The Trump World civil conflict has broken out over visas for highly-skilled workers. On one side are the new allies of the president-elect in the tech industry, like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

The clash provides a glimpse of the difficulties in keeping the Trump coalition united as his administration implements his immigration policies, an issue that drove his victory in 2024.

While President-elect Trump promised to stop illegal immigration and begin a massive deportation campaign, the most recent debate has been about immigrants who are here legally. This exposes a larger anti-immigrant sentiment, which is sometimes racist.

Trump sparked the debate on Sunday by announcing that he had appointed Sriram Krishnan as a White House adviser on artificial intelligence policy. Krishnan was criticized for a post he made in November suggesting changes to immigration: “Anything that would remove country limits for green cards/unlock skilled immigration would be enormous.”

Laura Loomer, a far-right provocateur, called Krishnan’s comments “alarming.” She accused Krishnan of promoting foreigners taking jobs from American STEM students.

The majority of the discussion centered on the H-1B Visa program. This is an employer-sponsored visa for highly skilled professionals, primarily for tech and computer jobs. Congress has set a limit of 65,000 visas per year for this program, plus an extra 20,000 for foreign professionals with a doctorate or master’s from a U.S. university or college.

Some MAGA supporters argued that visas are used to undercut American Workers.

Online, some of the reactions were overtly racist towards Indians. According to law, only 7 percent of the green cards that are issued each year can be granted to applicants from a single country. India is the country with the largest number of applicants. Indian workers are the majority of H-1B recipients. They accounted for 72 percent in fiscal year 2023.

Trump supporters from the tech sector have voiced their support for hiring highly-skilled workers from abroad.

Musk, who has been a close ally of Trump since his election, argued on his social media platform X in a recent post that Silicon Valley relies heavily on immigrants because the number of American-born engineers is too low. The South African-born tech billionaire once had an H-1B visa.

“OF COURSE my companies and I would prefer to hire Americans and we DO, as that is MUCH easier than going through the incredibly painful and slow work visa process,” the Tesla and SpaceX head said. “HOWEVER, there is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America.”

Ramaswamy was a co-chair of Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency”, along with Musk. He had previously called for the “gutting” of the H-1B program during his presidential campaign. He weighed in by saying that the American culture has been “demeaning” excellence and mediocrity for too long. He cited examples such as the popular sitcom “Saved by the Bell”, where characters Zach and Slater were “denigrated” by the other school geek Screech.

Conservatives did not like his comments. Nikki Haley, former United Nations ambassador, attacked Ramaswamy saying, “There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture.”

She wrote: “All you need to do is take a look at our border and see just how many people want what we offer.” “We should invest and prioritize in Americans, and not foreign workers.”

Some other Silicon Valley conservatives have also spoken out in the debate. These include venture capitalists David Sacks and Joe Lonsdale, who are in favor of more high-skilled immigrants.

Sacks, the White House’s czar of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency who will serve in that role, defended Krishnan and stressed that he only wanted to eliminate green card caps per country, and not any limitations.

Right-wingers still hold a common view that a small number of highly qualified immigrants should be supported. Sriram is not a “career leftist”! Sacks responded to Loomer’s remarks about Krishnan.

Lonsdale is “against” more low-end immigrants, but believes the U.S. must “win the talent game.”

The O-1 visa is intended for “individuals who have extraordinary abilities or achievements” and does not have a cap. However, it is granted to fewer people each year than H-1B Visas.

The players tried to make things easier. Musk responded to an X post that stated the H1B Visa system was used for “brilliant engineering” but also “poorly abused and implemented like crazy.”

Sacks seemed to be eager to bridge the growing divide. He said he trusted Stephen Miller, the incoming White House deputy chief for policy, to handle immigration policies.

“What I oppose is a baseless witch hunt against a highly qualified American for a role as A.I. adviser,” he added.

Musk, Ramaswamy, and Sacks all belong to a growing group of Silicon Valley conservatives that are heading to Washington after supporting Trump during his campaign.

Silicon Valley, long considered to be a liberal bastion by many, began to split this year when more tech executives, some of whom were former Democratic donors, supported Trump.

Musk, who has poured $250 million in the race to support Trump, is now a prominent figure within the inner circle of the president-elect, even though he’s no longer the DOGE cochair. The tech billionaire was a key player in sabotaging a bipartisan agreement for funding year-end in Congress, earlier this month. Some joked that he should be called “President Musk.”

Musk’s new prominence in Republican circles complicates the immigration debate for those who are against him.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who will co-chair the DOGE subcommittee of the next Congress echoed Ramaswamy’s call for a more work-oriented culture while criticizing the H-1B Program.

Greene wrote on X: “Put the selfie light down, and apply for a new job to replace all of the foreign workers who are taking the skilled labor jobs and American companies are desperately looking to hire.”

Even though the alignment between MAGA and Silicon Valley conservatives, which is relatively new, has already begun to fray.

Matt Gaetz, former Florida Republican Representative who was appointed by Trump as his Attorney General before resigning due to an ethical scandal, said that conservatives didn’t ask tech executives to be involved in immigration policies.

Gaetz wrote in X: “We welcomed the Tech Bros when they ran our way to avoid having the 3rd Grade teacher pick their child’s gender – and the obvious Biden/Harris Economic decline.” “We didn’t ask them to engineer an immigration policy.”

Miller, who was the architect of Trump’s immigration policy during his first term, posted a clip from Trump’s Independence Day 2020 eve address from Mt. Rushmore, which stated that “only America could have produced icons such as the Wright Brothers and the Tuskegee airmen, Elvis Presley, and Mohammad Ali.”

Ramaswamy tried to find a common ground with Miller. He argued in a repost that “this is exactly the American spirit we must revive.”

Trump has remained silent on the matter as the debate rages on X. He posted on Friday about the death of attorney David Rivkin, and the engagement between Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, and Ainsley.

Trump criticized the H-1B in 2016, saying that it imported foreign workers to “substitute American workers for lower pay.” His administration’s first term attempted to increase wage requirements for H-1B Visas, but this rule was blocked.