Elon Musk said the US has “benefited a lot from talented Indians”, but argued that rising illegal immigration has shifted attitudes towards migrants. He added that while the H-1B visa system has seen “some abuse” by outsourcing firms, closing it would be “very bad.” Elon Musk, speaking on Nikhil Kamath’s podcast, criticized President Biden’s border policies as “a total free-for-all with no border controls” (Image: Screengrab of video on Nikhil Kamath/YouTube) Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk said the United States has benefited significantly from Indian talent, but warned that abuses of the H-1B debate system have complicated the H-1B debate system. He made the comments on Nikhil Kamath’s “People by WTF” podcast, where the two discussed shifting the narrative around migration to the US. Brainstorming and Indian talent Kamath noted that the US has attracted “really smart people” for decades, including many professionals of Indian origin. Musk strongly agreed, saying, “America has benefited tremendously from talented Indians coming to America.” When Kamath pointed out that this trend “now seems to be changing,” Musk reiterated, “America is [an] great beneficiary of talent from India.” Why the narrative has shifted Kamath asked why the US seems more anti-immigration now, even recounting his own anxiety about US immigration: “I’ve been through immigration and I was worried if I’d be stopped.” Musk said the shift stems from political divisions and the recent surge in illegal immigration. “There are different schools of thought. It’s not unanimous,” he said. He criticized the Biden administration’s approach: “Under the Biden administration, it was basically a total free-for-all with no border control … You had massive amounts of illegal immigration.” He argued that generous government benefits create “a diffusion gradient” that draws more undocumented migrants. Political polarization over immigration Musk said both political extremes are contributing to the tension: The left, he said, wants “open borders, no holds barred,” even if migrants have criminal backgrounds. The right believes that immigrants are taking away American jobs, although Musk has questioned this: “My direct observation is that there is always a shortage of talented people … More talented people would be good.” He added that companies sometimes prefer cheaper foreign workers, fueling public resentment. On the H-1B visa program, Musk acknowledged flaws in the system: “There has been some abuse of the H-1B program … Some outsourcing companies have kind of gamed the system.” But he warned against extreme reforms: “I’m not of the school of thought that we should end the H-1B program. It would actually be very bad.” At his own companies, he said, cost cutting is not the motive: “We pay above average. We’re just trying to get the most talented people in the world.”