Elon Musk claims ‘Dems will destroy me’ over immigration violation deportation threat
Elon Musk faces scrutiny over past immigration violations, including working without authorisation while on a student visa.
Elon Musk has responded to recent allegations of immigration violations, calling them politically motivated efforts to "destroy him." These claims, highlighted in a WaPo report, suggest that Musk may have worked in the U.S. in the 1990s without the necessary authorisation, sparking discussion around his immigration background.
A legal expert noted that, if these allegations were substantiated, they could potentially lead to deportation or even the revocation of Musk’s U.S. citizenship. Musk, who was born in South Africa, gained Canadian citizenship through his mother and is now a naturalised U.S. citizen, denies any unlawful work activity in the U.S.
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Elon Musk responds to deportation threat
“A lot of people still don’t believe me when I say that the Dems will do everything in their power to destroy me if they win on Nov 5th,” the Space X CEO posted on his X platform citing a report by Newsweek claiming, “Could Elon Musk Be Deported For Immigration Violation?”
"Working when not authorized is a clear violation of immigration law and would make Mr. Musk deportable," an immigration law professor told the outlet recently. "Moreover, if he failed to mention his illegal work when he applied for naturalization, his citizenship theoretically could be revoked,” Stephen Yale-Loehr, from Cornell said.
Musk, a major backer of Republican candidate Donald Trump in the 2024 election, is spending substantial sums to support the campaign. With immigration high on voters’ radar, an old 2013 interview clip of Musk and his brother earlier resurfaced sparking debate as the brothers took jabs about some details of Musk's immigration journey. Musk was granted U.S. work authoriation in 1997 and became a U.S. citizen in 2002, according to The Post.
David Bredin, a lawyer from New York who's been around for over 20 years, said to Newsweek on Friday that he thinks Musk is pretty much out of the woods when it comes to getting deported because of the supposed rule-breaking. “In my opinion unless there was fraud in obtaining his status there is no chance of his citizenship been revoked.”
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He pointed out that this would not just mess up the U.S. economy, but also cause a lot of problems for USCIS. When someone gets to the citizenship stage, their background is checked really carefully, so any old problems would have already been spotted and ignored because they don't matter anymore.
What we know about Musk’s immigration?
According to WaPo, Elon Musk reportedly began his career in the U.S. working without proper work authorization, violating the terms of his student visa. Immigration enforcement was less strict at the time, and the system generally overlooked such violations.
The outlet further reported, If Donald Trump had been president when Musk was starting out, things could have been very different. Trump’s administration attempted to tighten immigration rules, especially for foreign students, making it easier to bar them from re-entering the country if they overstayed or violated visa terms. He still is voicing against illegal immigration, proposing it as a focal point during his 2024 presidential elections.
Recently, Musk has become a strong supporter of Trump, backing his campaign with nearly $120 million and echoing Trump’s stance on illegal immigration.