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Liberal news outlets are gleefully reporting that the MAGA coalition is falling apart over–surprisingly–immigration. Thus, Axios writes:

A virtual right-wing civil war has broken out over race, class, immigration and the future of President-elect Trump’s movement, and [Elon] Musk is increasingly at odds with Trump’s historic base.

The schism may force Trump to ultimately take sides between the largely white, working-class supporters who first made MAGA succeed, and the techno-libertarian billionaires like Musk who are at the center of his new administration.

The Left would love to see that, of course. Is there any reason why it should happen?

The issue is the H-1B visa program. Forbes summarizes the schism:

That feud was spurred by Trump hiring venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as a senior policy adviser for artificial intelligence, Politico notes, after Krishnan advocated for getting rid of country caps for green cards and skilled immigration, like through H-1B visas.

Trump allies criticized Krishnan—with far-right activist Laura Loomer calling his appointment “deeply disturbing”—which led [Elon] Musk and other tech leaders to advocate for H-1B visas, with Musk claiming “there is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America” that makes using foreign workers necessary.

Other Trump allies have opposed H-1B visas and the tech leaders’ comments in response, with right-wing commentator Mike Cernovich saying Big Tech is responsible for the rise in foreign workers and “now they want more H-1B’s for their self-inflicted wound,” while Loomer said, “Allowing big tech executives into Mar a Lago is going to be the death of our country. Isn’t it?”

The H-1B program is intended to allow a limited number of foreign workers to fill jobs for which there is not a suitable American candidate. Some of these workers are indeed extremely valuable, as Musk puts it, the “top ~0.1% of engineering talent.” But others point out that in reality, the program is much less selective and includes some entry-level workers.

Both Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have gotten heated over the issue–in my view, too much so. Thus:

And, worse:

What “contemptible fools” are those?

It is easy to see why Democrats are celebrating. They couldn’t have said it better themselves.

The anti-H-1B advocates consider themselves the true MAGA Republicans. They are right about a couple of things. First, the immigration issue is not limited to illegal immigration. Legal immigration can also swamp a culture, deprive native Americans of jobs, bring down wages, and have other negative consequences. The fact that a given level or type of immigration is currently legal does not necessarily make it a good idea, and should not foreclose debate.

Second, there is nothing “racist” about favoring the interests of Americans over non-Americans. Putting Americans first is exactly what every administration should do. If foreign workers are unfairly depriving Americans of jobs, their race is irrelevant.

The question is whether the H-1B program, on balance, is a good thing for Americans. Musk says it is, arguing that it is like an NBA team bringing in a few foreign players to make the team as a whole, mostly Americans, better. I think that is basically correct. Whether the program should be expanded, contracted, or left as is, is a good topic for debate.

H-1B visas are temporary, and the number issued is limited by law to 85,000 annually. Currently there are around 700,000 H-1B visa holders, compared with more than 10 million illegal aliens. And no one has noticed an epidemic of Indian engineers and computer scientists raping women or setting them on fire on a subway. There is no comparison between the evils of illegal immigration and the mixed blessing (at worst) of the H-1B visa program.

For now, the internal debate is going to be resolved in favor of continuing the visa program. President Trump weighed in today:

President-elect Trump told The Post Saturday he supports immigration visas for highly skilled workers, appearing to side with Elon Musk in the roiling intra-MAGA debate on the issue.

“I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump said by phone, referring to the H-1B program, which permits companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations.

“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” added Trump….

That will settle the issue for the time being. Going forward, it would be foolish to allow a disagreement over the relatively minor issue of the scope of the H-1B program to split the Republican Party. But being politically foolish is something Republicans have often been known for. It would be ironic if the MAGA coalition were to fall apart before Trump is even sworn in.