‘This is madness!’ Elon Musk pitches for immigration reforms in US, gets a thumbs up from Indians
Elon Musk has rooted for increase in legal immigration in United States.
Elon Musk has joined the debate on the necessity for significant reforms in the United States' immigration process, which currently poses challenges for skilled workers seeking domestic visas.
The Tesla Founder expressed his views on X (formerly known as Twitter), stating, “While entering the United States illegally is trivial, it is insanely difficult for legal immigrants to relocate to the United States.” He labeled the current system as “madness” and proposed, “We should halt illegal immigration and substantially increase legal immigration.”
Musk was responding to immigration data shared by Aaron Levie, CEO at Box, stating “This chart should make you go insane. This is the number of high skilled workers that want to work here. There is a cap at 85,000 slots that will be filled. We are actively shooting our future selves in the foot.”
To a comment posted by X account QuestionEverything," Exactly, the problem appears to be that those skilled and vetted, legal immigrants are not the kind that the people enabling illegal immigration want." Musk responded with a, “Correct”.
Amjad Masad, CEO Replit replied, “To put it in prospective: 85k is like a week or two worth of illegal crossing on the south border.” Another user Tyler Hogge added, “Lowest hanging fruit in the country for the president to fix. free points.”
Also Read: Immigration Reform Bill Explained
Many Indians who have been stuck in the green card backlog gave a thumbs up to Musk's suggestion.
“There are a million immigrants who came legally and stuck in green card backlog of 100+ years. This is how America is treating its high skilled legal immigrants. They won’t even have the right to vote. If this isn’t slavery, tell me what is slavery?”, Atal Agarwal said.
“Not only it's difficult for legal immigrants to move to the United States, it's extremely difficult for even US educated and trained workers with approved immigration petition to stay here. Never ending struggle of maintaining visa status and always tied to employer with very little freedom,” Anuj posted.
“Despite giving my all youth years to US as a physician, serving in hurricane Sandy to COVID pandemic, risking my life for Americans during pandemic and paying millions in taxes I am stuck in decades of inhumane green card backlog." Raj Karnatak posted.
"Legal immigration system is a disgrace. No accounting for this mess.@David_J_Bier described what’s happening to legal immigrants in decades of inhumane backlog is a crime. Unfortunately I have no place where I can report this crime to.”
Also Read: EB-1 backlog to H-1B challenges: Expert's tips on U.S. immigration
Contribution of Foreign Workers towards US economy
40% of highly skilled workers in the semiconductor sector are immigrants, as highlighted in a 2020 report by Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology. Furthermore, international students represent a substantial majority, approximately two-thirds, of graduate students in electrical engineering and computer science programs.
Data from the Institute for Progress indicates that 82% of companies in the defence industrial base struggle to find qualified STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) workers. This challenge is compounded by the fact that 50% of advanced STEM degree holders working in the defense industrial base are foreign-born.
US immigration challenges faced by foreign workers
This contribution of foreign talent is contrasted with the difficulties faced by these workers in obtaining permanent residency in the U.S. The situation is particularly acute for Indian STEM graduates, who often endure decades-long waits for a green card. This prolonged uncertainty leads to 80% of STEM master’s graduates leaving the United States.
Legal immigration to the United States is often characterized by a series of complex and lengthy processes, creating significant bottlenecks for those seeking entry. The U.S. immigration system involves a myriad of visas, each with its own set of criteria and caps, including family-based, employment-based, and humanitarian visas. This complexity is compounded by annual quotas and country-specific caps, leading to long waiting periods, especially from countries with high demand.
Additionally, bureaucratic delays and backlogs in processing applications exacerbate these challenges. These bottlenecks are further tightened by frequent policy changes and political debates surrounding immigration, which can alter the landscape unpredictably. As a result, aspiring immigrants often face uncertainty and extended waiting times, sometimes spanning several years, before their immigration status is resolved.