Elon Musk on H-1B: America has been an immense beneficiary of talent from India

Washington: Tesla CEO Elon Musk has defended the H-1B visa programme, saying that the US economy has “benefited immensely” from Indian immigrants. He made the comments in a podcast conversation with Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath.

Speaking on the “WTF is?” podcast, released on Sunday, Musk argued that America needs high-skill workers from India now more than ever, while also calling out misuse of the visa system by some outsourcing firms.

“America has been an immense beneficiary of talent from India,” Musk said, adding that his companies constantly struggle to fill specialised roles because “there’s always a scarcity of talented people.”

While defending the H-1B programme as a crucial pipeline for global talent, he also acknowledged its vulnerabilities.

He criticised “some of the outsourcing companies (that) have kind of gamed the system,” and urged reforms to “stop the gaming of the system” rather than shutting the programme down entirely.

“I’m absolutely not in the school of thought that we should shut down the H-1B programme,” he said, pushing back on calls from parts of the political right.

Musk linked wider immigration debates to policy failures, arguing that the previous administration’s approach amounted to “a total free for all, with like no border controls,” which he said encouraged illegal immigration and “a negative selection effect.” “Unless you’ve got border controls, you’re not a country,” he added.

Musk’s comments come at a tense moment for the H-1B programme under President Donald Trump’s second term, which has adopted a stricter regulatory posture while still acknowledging the necessity of skilled foreign workers.

The H-1B visa, created by the Immigration Act of 1990, allows US employers to hire foreign professionals in speciality occupations.

Congress caps the programme at 65,000 visas annually. Indians dominate the system: they received 71 per cent of all H-1B approvals in 2024, followed by Chinese nationals at 12 per cent.

The US approved nearly 400,000 H-1B applications that year, including renewals outside the cap.

In Trump’s second term, enforcement has tightened. In September, he announced a new $100,000 fee on fresh H-1B petitions filed after September 21, 2025. The fee targets what the administration calls “loopholes” enabling employers to “undercut American workers.” It does not apply to renewals, current visa holders, or 2025 lottery winners.

A Department of Homeland Security proposal expected in December will revisit cap exemptions, expand scrutiny of violators, and tighten third-party worksite rules to “improve programme integrity.”

Despite the tough rhetoric, Trump has repeatedly acknowledged the programme’s economic value. In a November 11 Fox News interview, he defended the visas against critics within his base: “You do also have to bring in talent… We’re not going to be successful if we don’t allow people who invest billions… to bring a lot of their people from their country.”

Acknowledging workforce gaps, he added: “You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory.’”

IANS