South Africa-born Elon Musk says H-1B & other visas add net-job creators; opposes Trump

SpaceX and Telsa CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday criticized the Donald Trump-led US government's order to temporarily suspend foreign visas. Taking to Twitter, South Africa-origin Elon Musk expressed his disapproval and stated that the visa suspended cover skill sets that are net job creators. He added that although visa reforms make sense, this step is "too broad." 

Read: Sundar Pichai issues first response as Trump suspends H-1B visas; reveals Google's stand

Trump signs executive order

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to suspend a number of foreign visas including H-1B, H-2B, certain H-4, H-L, and some H-J visas in order to 'preserve jobs for American citizens'. According to the White House, this will now ensure that businesses will look at American citizens while hiring employees. The order will keep out nonagricultural seasonal workers, individuals for cultural exchanges and managers, and other key employees of multinational corporations. However, it will keep food processing workers and healthcare workers from helping in the fight against coronavirus.

Read: Trump bans H-1B visas; US corporate sector says it will hit innovation, foreign investment

Earlier in April, the Trump administration had temporarily blocked foreign nationals from gaining permanent residence permits for 60 days, which ended on Monday. In March, he had announced the deportation of immigrants caught at the border, not allowing them to have access to the US asylum system. Meanwhile, he had also announced the closure of borders with Canada and Mexico for non-essential purposes in order to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Read: Trump could announce foreign workers' visa restrictions in few days: Report

Read: Trump bans H-1B visas; US corporate sector says it will hit innovation, foreign investment