Billionaire Elon Musk is "wrong" with his overwhelming support of the H-1B immigration program, as it brings "indentured servants" rather than highly skilled workers into the United States, according to independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
"The main function of the H-1B visa program is not to hire 'the best and the brightest,' but rather to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad," the Sanders posted Thursday on X, which Musk owns. Both Musk and President-elect Donald Trump have spoken out in support of the visa program, which was created to bring skilled immigrants into the U.S., reports the Washington Examiner.
Sanders added, in a statement shared on X, that millions of Americans have advanced degrees but remain unemployed, while "guest workers" fill one-third of new jobs in information technology.
The senator further attacked Musk for laying off 7,500 U.S. workers from Tesla while he was "approved to employ thousands of H-1B guest workers."
Sanders also slammed the H-1B program itself, noting that many of the skilled workers that are brought into the country end up being employed in professions such as dog training or becoming "massage therapists."
There are some jobs in highly specialized areas that need to be filled by skilled workers through the H-1B program because there are awesome labor shortages, Sanders conceded, but he added that "we must utilize this program as a very short-term and temporary approach."
Sanders added that the guest worker fees that large corporations pay out should be increased and then used to fund job training, apprenticeships, and scholarships for American workers.
He also said the minimum wage for such workers should be increased and that corporations should look toward hiring American workers first.
"It should never be cheaper for a corporation to hire a guest worker from overseas than an American worker," Sanders insisted.
Musk, however, said on Christmas that there are too few "super-talented engineers" who are also "super motivated" in the United States.
Conservative commentator Nick Fuentes backed Sanders' comments Thursday, saying that he is "right," while "Elon and Trump are wrong."