Sanders Outflanks Musk on H-1B Visas

Senator Bernie Sander (I-VT) criticized the H1-B visa program and called for “major reforms” in it in a statement released Thursday. This comes a week after some on the right, most notably DOGE co-leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, advocated that the country caps for the visas be removed.

For the progressive Vermont senator, the criticism of H1-Bs represents a shift back to the immigration restrictionism that Sanders touted earlier in his political career, including an attempt to dismantle the diversity visa lottery program in 2005. 

Sanders as a freshman senator vocally opposed George W. Bush’s Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act in 2007. “Our border is very porous, and I think at a time when the middle class is shrinking, the last thing we need is to bring over in a period of years, millions of people into this country who are prepared to lower wages for American workers,” Sanders stated during a press conference during the debate.

Nevertheless, in 2013 Sanders voted for the “Gang of Eight” bill on immigration, though not without expressing reservations about it. 

“It does not make a lot of sense to me to bring hundreds of thousands of those workers into this country to work for minimum wage and compete with Americans kids,” Sanders stated at the time.