Immigration: the tech bros vs the Nazis

I’m surprised this hasn’t bubbled up sooner. Not only has immigration been a net strength for America throughout its history (unless you’re a Native American), but in the last three decades, immigrants—particularly from China and India—have fueled American biotech and computer technology innovation. So when I read Trump and his supporters vilifying immigrants and threatening to deport over 10 million immigrants, my reaction was that this national hostility towards immigrants of color will be bad for America. The US is currently an engine for innovation, but if the innovators don’t feel welcome, the universe of innovation isn’t a closed system. 

Josh Kovensky over at TPM has a piece highlighting the fissure in the MAGA movement over immigration. On the one side are tech oligarchs and moguls like Musk and Ramaswamy who are pushing for more immigration:

“The two sides began to argue on Sunday, after Donald Trump appointed Sriram Krishan, a partner at Andreesen Horowitz, as a White House policy adviser on Artificial Intelligence to work with Sacks, the Trump administration’s crypto and AI czar.

 

“This may seem like a relatively minor White House appointment. However, Krishan has also been a proponent of removing country caps on green cards and H1-B visas, which allow American companies to hire foreign workers for certain specializations.”

On the other side, you have the red-blooded racist MAGA who want to deport anyone who isn’t white, 

“To the far-right, nativist influencers that have from the start glommed onto Trumpian scapegoating of immigrants, Krishan’s position crossed a line. Loomer, an anti-immigrant provocateur who traveled with Trump during his campaign, called it “deeply disturbing.” Sacks replied, perhaps not fully understanding his audience, by noting that Indian immigrants face an 11-year wait for green cards.

“This was catnip for Loomer, who replied by suggesting that Sacks was in on a new version of the great replacement theory, and spent the next several days making vile statements about immigrants, accusing  those who disagree with her on H1-B visas of hating Americans, and demanding  that senior Trump officials denounce their Silicon Valley allies.”

Don’t look for this schism to heal itself. It’s baked in the MAGA cake. Once Trump deploys American troops on American streets, the divisions that Fox News and MAGA have thrived on will be in full view, and I don’t see how Elon’s billions will quench the MAGA appetite for suffering and blood. This won’t end well for America.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/where-things-stand/who-got-duped-maga-activists-worry-that-nativism-and-tech-oligarchy-may-not-go-hand-in-hand

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