US Immigration Policy: During a wide-ranging conversation on Zerodha Co-Founder Nikhil Kamath’s podcast, which was released on Sunday (November 30), Tesla CEO Elon Musk weighed in on one of America’s most debated immigration topics: the H-1B visa programme and the role of high-skilled foreign workers in the United States.
Talking about decades of Indian talent contributing to the US economy, Musk said, “Yes, I think America has benefitted immensely from talented Indians that have come to America.”
Kamath introduced the discussion by pointing out that the United States had historically attracted “really smart people” from across the world, which many in India described as a “brain drain”. He asked why, in recent years, the narrative around immigration seemed to have changed, suggesting that America had grown “anti-immigration to a certain extent”.
Musk acknowledged the perception but stressed that skilled Indian workers had been a cornerstone of US growth. “There has been some misuse of the H-1B Programme… some outsourcing companies have kind of gamed the system,” he said, adding that “the solution is to stop the gaming of the system, not scrap the visa entirely”.
Rejecting calls from some conservative groups to end the programme, Musk was clear, “I am not in the school of thought that we should shut down the H-1B Programme… that would actually be very bad.”
His statements came during ongoing debates over US immigration policy, following President Donald Trump’s proclamation in October introducing a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications. Aimed at encouraging companies to prioritise hiring American workers, the move faced pushback from industry experts and tech leaders.
Musk also commented on US border controls and political divisions. Criticising previous policies, he said the former Biden administration’s approach had amounted to “a total free-for-all with no border controls”, emphasising that “unless you have got border controls, you are not a country”.
Highlighting the polarised political landscape, Musk stated, “The left wants to basically have open borders… Then on the right, you have got at least a perception that somehow their jobs are being taken by talented people from other countries.”
He argued that lax enforcement had led to “massive amounts of illegal immigration” and a “negative selection effect”, where financial incentives encouraged more people to enter the US unlawfully.
Despite these challenges, Musk highlighted the critical shortage of skilled workers in America. “We have a lot of difficulty finding enough talented people to get these difficult tasks done. And so more talented people would be good,” he said, explaining why programmes like H-1B remain essential for American innovation and competitiveness.
