Sriram Krishnan faces racism post-Trump role, Elon Musk offers support

Indian-American entrepreneur Sriram Krishnan, chosen by US President-elect Donald Trump as his Senior Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence, has been subjected to racist online attacks by far-right members over his views on immigration. The American far-right accused Krishnan and other Indian Americans of "stealing jobs from Americans" and questioned the high-skilled immigration through the H-1B program.

 

While Krishnan faced criticism, he also garnered support from leaders in American industry, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

 

Why did American far-right attack Sriram Krishnan?

 

Far-right activist Laura Loomer, who has over a million followers on X, sparked the controversy by calling Krishnan's appointment "deeply disturbing."

 

“It’s alarming to see the number of career leftists being appointed to Trump’s administration when they hold views opposing his America First agenda,” Loomer wrote, attaching an old tweet from Krishnan advocating the removal of country caps for green cards.

 

"How will we control immigration and promote America First innovation when Trump appoints someone who wants to REMOVE all restrictions on green card caps? Foreign students, who make up 78 per cent of Silicon Valley employees, could take jobs meant for American STEM students," she added.

 

Loomer's comments triggered a wave of anti-Krishnan and anti-Indian rhetoric online. One user claimed, “Indians see America as a resource to exploit.” Another argued that H-1B workers are tied to companies due to visa restrictions, creating a cheaper, less mobile labor force.

 

Elon Musk, David Sacks defend Krishnan

 

Among those who called out racist remarks against Krishnan was his former boss Elon Musk, who is himself going to feature in Team Trump under the Department of Government Efficiency, or 'Doge'. Musk described views opposing Krishnan's standpoint on immigration a "fixed pie" fallacy, calling it "wrong-headed" economic thinking. 

 

“The ‘fixed pie’ fallacy is at the heart of much wrong-headed economic thinking. There is essentially infinite potential for job and company creation. Think of all the things that didn’t exist 20 or 30 years ago!” Musk wrote on X. 

 

David Sacks, the crypto czar who will be working closely with Krishnan in shaping Trump's broader AI policy, also supported him. Sacks said that Krishnan had been a US citizen for over a decade and that he was not going to "run America" or influence the immigration policy. 

 

Sacks mentioned that Krishnan supports removing country-specific caps, thereby reducing wait time for Indians from 11 years and not all caps on green cards. "Krishnan wants to make the programme completely merit-based", added Sacks. 

 

Indian-American Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna David asked people criticising Krishnan for being Indian-born should also criticise Musk as South African-born or Nvidia's Jensen as Taiwanese-born. "It is great that talent around the world wants to come here, not to China," he said.  

 

The H-1B and green card debate

 

According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the H-1B programme allows companies and other employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in occupations that require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialised knowledge. H-1B specialty occupations may include fields such as architecture, engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences, medicine and health, education, business specialties, accounting, law, theology, and the arts.

 

According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) report for fiscal year 2023, Indian nationals continued to be the predominant beneficiaries, accounting for 72 per cent of approved H-1B petitions. Chinese nationals were the second most common, comprising approximately 12 per cent of approvals.

 

The country cap is the limit on the number of green cards that can be issued to the people of any single country in a particular year. Specifically, no single country can receive more than 7 per cent of the total number of employment-based and family-sponsored green cards issued annually.

 

These caps have led to significant backlogs for applicants from countries with high demand, notably India and China. A 2019 analysis by Cato Institute indicated that the average wait time for all family preference immigrants was about 8 years and 1 month, nearly double the wait time from two decades prior.