Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called on Thursday for H1-B visa reform, saying it would protect U.S. workers and help them get better wages.

“Elon Musk is wrong,” the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist wrote in a statement released on Thursday, which he promoted on Musk’s platform, X.

“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,” he wrote. “The cheaper the labor they hire, the more money the billionaires make.”

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

Pointing out inconsistencies

Trump has shown support for the H1-B visa program, most recently saying he has hired H1-B workers at Mar-A-Lago.

But many of his working-class supporters agree with Sanders that the program has been used to replace U.S. workers with cheaper foreign labor.

Sanders poked at Musk for his practices in using the program.

“If there is really a shortage of skilled tech workers in America, why did Tesla lay-off over 7,500 American workers this year — including many software developers and engineers at its factory in Austin, Texas — while being approved to employ thousands of H-1B guest workers?” he continued.

Sanders is also pushing for an increase to the federal minimum wage, which is still $7.25 per hour.

That wage is unheard of for even the most unskilled jobs in the wake of high inflation since the COVID-19 shutdowns, but the Republican position has long been to let the free market set the minimum wage.

Hard to argue

It is hard to argue with Sanders on the visa program, though.

“Bottom line,” he wrote, “It should never be cheaper for a corporation to hire a guest worker from overseas than an American worker.”

It sounds like a position Trump should be able to agree with.

As with anything these days, it's difficult to build a coalition with so many fractured interests and viewpoints.

Trump will have a fine line to walk between the working class and tech entrepreneur factions of his party on this issue.