Power-hungry, sellin’ soldiers in a human grocery store

Andrew Prokop does a useful job of detailing Elon’s efforts to disrupt the MAGA anti-immigration forces who both prevailed in Trump’s first term substantively and were depressingly critical to his re-election politically:

A bitter public feud split the MAGA movement over the holidays, as supporters of high-skilled legal immigration like Elon Musk argued vociferously (and sometimes profanely) with the right’s immigration critics over the topic of H-1B visas.

Musk, like many tech executives, strongly supports that program, which lets companies bring skilled foreign workers to the US for specific jobs — indeed, Musk said he once had such a visa himself. Critics on the right have long argued that it suppresses wages for American workers, while proponents say it attracts top talent and helps American businesses succeed.

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

That particular missive was aimed at an X poster with a small following. And yet Musk’s real nemesis on the issue is someone with far more power, influence, and bureaucratic savvy: Stephen Miller.

Miller is the hardline anti-immigration ideologue who effectively oversaw immigration policy for the first Trump administration as a senior White House aide. He spent Trump’s first term mastering the workings of the federal bureaucracy and was one of only a few high-level appointees to remain in the boss’s good graces. In Trump’s second term, he’ll have another high-level role, as deputy White House chief of policy.

As I wrote in a September profile, Miller is the architect of Trump’s mass deportation agenda — but he’s also pushed hard to restrict legal immigration including H-1B visas specifically, despite his boss’s sometimes contradictory impulses on the issue. In Trump’s first term, Miller was tenacious enough that he eventually got his way: The administration cited the pandemic to “temporarily” suspend all H-1B visas while crafting rules designed to drastically limit the program.

So while Musk might be encouraged by the broadly positive comments on H-1B visas Trump made to a reporter on Saturday — the president-elect said he’s “been a believer in H-1B” — the real question is: Can Musk win a policy war with Miller?

It’s entirely possible that the corporate side will win here and that the rank-and-file represented by Miller will prove to be the marks in Trump’s floating three-card monte game. We should be careful before assuming that, though:

Finally, there’s yet another twist to this messy saga — shortly before this dispute began last week, Trump announced he’d chosen a new appointee to join Musk and Ramaswamy at DOGE.

Her name? Katie Miller — Stephen’s wife. “Congratulations to Stephen and Katie!” Trump posted.

This could end in serious conflict — or in the factions of the party working out enough racism and carve-outs for favored employers to make the major stakeholders relatively happy.