Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has added to the already bubbling cauldron of the H-1B visa debate by accusing Elon Musk of supporting the visa programme solely because it provides cheaper labour, rather than more skilled workers.

He added, “cheaper the labor they hire, the more money the billionaires make”.

Sanders argued, “The main function of the H-1B visa programme is not to hire ‘the best and the brightest,’ but rather to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad.”

Elon Musk is wrong.

The main function of the H-1B visa program is not to hire “the best and the brightest,” but rather to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad.

The cheaper the labor they hire, the more money the billionaires make. pic.twitter.com/Mwz7i9TcSM

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 2, 2025

Musk has countered that foreign labor tends to be more highly skilled, but Sanders challenged this claim by pointing out that Tesla laid off over 7,500 American workers while hiring thousands of H-1B guest workers. Sanders questioned the nature of these jobs, highlighting that Tesla employed H-1B workers as associate accountants, mechanical engineers, and material planners for relatively low wages.

Since the past weeks, there has been a deep fissure in the MAGA club regarding the H-1B visa programme, with far-right political activist Laura Loomer and Trump’s one-time White House strategist Steve Bannon, criticising the programme about not prioritising American workers. Banon even went so far as to say, “Don’t come up and go to the pulpit in your first week here and start lecturing people about the way things are going to be. If you’re going to do that, we’re going to rip your face off.”

However, in a recent post, Musk defended the H-1B visa programme on social media, “The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B.”

“I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend”, he added.

The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B.

Take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 28, 2024

Sanders emphasised that the U.S. needs a highly skilled and well-educated workforce, but this should be achieved by hiring qualified American workers and investing in education, rather than relying on cheap labour from abroad. He stressed, “Bottom line. It should never be cheaper for a corporation to hire a guest worker from overseas than an American worker.”

The H-1B visa programme allows employers to hire foreign nationals in specialty occupations, such as technology, engineering, and finance. However, critics argue that the programme is often exploited to hire cheaper foreign labour, rather than hiring American workers.

The debate has exposed deep divisions among President-elect Donald Trump’s allies, with some supporting the H-1B visa programme as essential for the tech industry, while others see it as a threat to American jobs. Trump himself has expressed support for the programme, despite previously signing an executive order to restrict access to such visas.
 

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks before President Joe Biden arrives to deliver remarks on lowering the cost of prescription drugs, at NHTI Concord Community College, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Concord, N.H.
| Photo Credit: AP

Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent beloved by progressives, won re-election on Tuesday (November 6, 2024) to a fourth six-year term in the U.S. Senate.

Mr. Sanders defeated Republican Gerald Malloy, a U.S. Army veteran and businessman. Also on the ballot were independent candidate Steve Berry, as well as minor party candidates Mark Stewart Greenstein, Matt Hill and Justin Schoville.

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The 83-year-old senator is a self-described democratic socialist who caucuses with the Democrats and twice came close to winning the presidential nomination. More recently, he has worked closely with the Biden administration to craft its domestic policy goals on health care, education, childcare and workers’ rights. He is the longest-serving independent in Congress.

Mr. Sanders said he ran again because the country faces some of its toughest and most serious challenges of the modern era. He described those as threats to its democratic foundations, massive levels of income and wealth inequality, climate change, and challenges to women’s ability to control their own bodies.

“I just did not feel with my seniority and with my experience that I could walk away from Vermont, representing Vermont, at this difficult moment in American history,” he said during a recent WCAX-TV debate.

Mr. Malloy, 62, who served 22 years in the Army and was a defence contractor for 16 years, said he thought Mr. Sanders was going to retire – and thinks he should – after 34 years in Congress. Mr. Malloy said Mr. Sanders is not delivering results.

“I have 40 years of very relative experience: business, government, military, foreign policy,” Mr. Malloy said during the debate.

Mr. Malloy, a graduate of West Point who has a master’s in business administration, had said he would work to create high-paying jobs in Vermont, promote business and innovation, and that he does not support a rise in taxes. Mr. Malloy had said he would seek to enforce immigration laws and secure the border.

Mr. Sanders, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said he’s very proud of his record in Congress. He has been a consistent champion for better health care paid for by the government, higher taxes for the wealthy, less military intervention abroad, and major solutions for climate change.

Mr. Sanders is a strong critic of former President Donald Trump and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Mr. Sanders has disagreed strongly with Biden on aid for Israel’s yearlong war with Hamas and has sought to block U.S. arm sales to Israel.

Mr. Sanders got his political start as mayor of Burlington, Vermont’s largest city, from 1981 to 1989. He was later a congressman for 16 years. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020. He said more than a year ago that he would forgo another presidential bid and would endorse Mr. Biden.

Sen. Bernie Sanders.
| Photo Credit: AP

A man was arrested on Sunday on a charge of starting a fire outside the office of Senator Bernie Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the state.

Shant Soghomonian, 35, entered the building in downtown Burlington on Friday and headed to Sanders’ office on the third floor. He was recorded by security cameras spraying a liquid near the door and setting it alight, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Sprinklers went off on multiple floors as Soghomonian departed via a staircase. There were several people inside the office but no one was injured, although the door and surrounding areas were damaged by the fire, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

It was not immediately clear whether Soghomonian had a lawyer, and he could not be reached for comment.

Sanders is a long-serving independent in the U.S. Senate representing the northeastern state of Vermont, although in 2016 and 2020 he unsuccessfully sought to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.