Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) took to X on Thursday to challenge Elon Musk’s endorsement of the H-1B visa program, arguing it exploits foreign workers and undermines American jobs.

What Happened: Sanders posted his disagreement with Musk’s stance on the H-1B visa program. He argued that the program’s main function is not to hire top talent, as Musk suggests, but to replace well-paying American jobs with low-wage foreign workers. Sanders stated, “The cheaper the labor they hire, the more money the billionaires make.”

In a statement attached to his post on X, Sanders noted that the top 30 corporations using the H1-B program laid off at least 85,000 American workers while they hired over 34,000 H1-B guest workers.

“There are estimates that as many as 33 percent of all new Information Technology jobs in America are being filled by guest workers,” said Sanders. He cited Census Bureau data to say that millions of Americans with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and math are currently not working in related professions.

Giving the specific example of Musk’s Tesla Inc TSLA, Sanders asked if H1-B jobs are going to the “best and brightest” and why Tesla has employed guest workers as associate accountants for as little as $58,000 and associate mechanical engineers for as little as $70,000 a year.

“If there is really a shortage of skilled tech workers in America, why did Tesla lay-off over 7,500 American workers this year,” asked Sanders.

Sanders said that the H1-B visa program should only be utilized as a “very short-term and temporary approach.” In his statement he also supporter raising the minimum wage for guest workers and allowing them to easily switch jobs. He advocated that corporations be required to aggressively recruit American workers before they can hire from overseas.

Tesla did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comments.

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Why It Matters: Musk’s support for the H-1B visa program aligns with President-elect Donald Trump’s backing of the initiative.

“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” said Trump.

This marks a surprising shift from Trump’s previous administration, which had imposed restrictions on such visas. The tech sector, including influential figures like Department of Government Efficiency co-leads Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, has long championed the H-1B visa program, arguing it enables U.S. companies to hire thousands of foreign engineers and specialists annually. However, this stance has ignited a social media firestorm among Trump’s far-right base.

Image via Shutterstock

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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Shivdeep Dhaliwal