OPINION: Ramaswamy and Musk create immigration rift in the Republican Party

Photo via Gage Skidmore/Public domain/Wikimedia Commons

Alaina Sayre, a Freshman studying Journalism, argues that the divide created by the Republicans over immigration hurts the overall credibility of platforms.

Immigration was a key voting issue during the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election. President-elect Donald Trump vowed to bring jobs back to American workers, a process which includes the biggest mass deportation of illegal immigrants in U.S. history, as well as blocking future immigrants from entering the country through the border of Mexico.

Trump plans to launch a series of executive orders that will target millions of immigrants and their families. In November 2023, a close adviser of Trump told The New York Times that Trump plans to “unleash the vast arsenal of federal powers to implement the most spectacular migration crackdown.” 

Immigration has become a big issue in America. In 2023, 41% of U.S. adults supported a decrease in immigration. That number spiked to 55% just one year later. Many Americans who had previously not voted Republican switched sides in this election because of Trump’s immigration policies. 

Many Americans put their faith in Trump, but like many of his promises, he was quick to abandon them following the election. 

Following the election, Trump revealed that he planned to start a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and that Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk were to spearhead the creation and management of the organization. DOGE is intended to serve as an advisory organization that will provide recommendations and strategies for other government leaders. The pair will have control over changes to the “federal bureaucracy,” cutting funds to different organizations and restructuring federal agencies. 

The two have already garnered significant political influence. In December, Musk was able to recruit Trump to block a bipartisan funding bill. Musk posted on his X account, “Stop the steal of your tax dollars!” Trump then followed in his footsteps, posting on his own account. The two perpetuated false claims about the bill in an attempt to build outrage from U.S. citizens. The bill ultimately ended up passing after alterations that Musk and Trump publicly approved of, proving the political influence that Musk has gained in the last few months. 

Musk and Ramaswamy have been quick to point out the cost of illegal immigrants on American taxpayers, but they have not stopped their support for immigrants in U.S. tech roles. DOGE estimated that taxpayers paid roughly $150 billion, or 2% of the federal budget on illegal immigration. However, they still support and plan to embolden foreign tech employees. 

Recently Laura Loomer, a right-wing influencer, criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser for AI policy because he has publicly favored bringing more skilled immigrants to the U.S. to work. Loomer claimed Krishnan was not “America First” in his policies, and started an online feud with him and his supporters online. 

Ramaswamy quickly responded, claiming that American culture venerates mediocrity and he insinuated that American culture prioritizes laziness over hard work. Ramaswamy and Musk have been quick to point out the rift forming between conservative people. 

One X user posted, “So basically the right split into two factions, tech right and right right, and the tech right is like ‘hey we need h-1b visa people to do the jobs,’ and the right right was like ‘no you need to hire americans,’ and the tech right is like ‘but you guys are retarded,’ and the right right is like ‘well you don’t train us,’ and the tech right is like ‘you can’t outtrain being retarded,’ and while all this was going on we learned some people *really* don’t like Indians.” Musk then responded, “That pretty much sums it up, this was eye-opening.”

A rift has been created within the Republican party with one side prioritizing the preservation of American jobs, while the other prioritizes winning the great power competition against China in the tech field. One side hopes to employ American workers, the other believes American workers are lazy and mediocre. Republicans cannot get their own party to agree, yet they hold the majority in all three branches of government. Trump’s term hasn’t started, but we are already seeing a preview of the chaos this country will run in for the next four years. 

Please note that these views and opinions do not reflect those of The New Political.