Amid the ongoing debate on the US immigration and visa policy revamps, Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Sunday acknowledged the contributions of Indian talents in various sectors, including technology and innovation.
"I think America has benefited immensely from talented Indians who have come to America. I mean, America's been an immense beneficiary of talent from India," Musk said on the latest episode of Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath's ‘People by WTF’ podcast.
Out now @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/dQVLniUgWA
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The multi-billionaire, who briefly served as a senior advisor to President Donald Trump and the de facto head of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), noted that some of the so-called anti-immigration policies were triggered by the "misuse" of H-1B visa programme and the previous government's "free-for-all" approach.
Asked about the concerns that the talented immigrants were taking jobs from native-born citizens, Musk said he was unsure about the validity of that perception.
“You've got a perception that somehow their jobs are being taken by talented people from other countries. I don't know how real that is. My direct observation is that there's always a scarcity of talented people," he said.
Noting that American companies are facing a lot of difficulty finding enough talented people, the Tesla chief claimed that skilled immigrants are filling gaps rather than taking jobs.
“At my company, the issue is we are just trying to get the most talented people around the world," he said.
On H-1B visa programme
Musk admitted that the H-1B visa programme is being misused, but he doesn’t think the programme should be shut down.
"I think there's been some misuse of the, you know, H-1B programme. It would be accurate to say that there's, you know, like some of the outsourcing companies have kind of gamed the system on the H-1B front, and we need to stop the gaming of the system. But I'm certainly not in the school of thought that we should shut down the H1B programme,” he said.
The H-1B visa, created by the Immigration Act of 1990, allows US employers to hire foreign professionals in speciality occupations. Indians make up an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The Trump administration has adopted a stricter regulatory posture while still acknowledging the necessity of skilled foreign workers.
