Media: US tech companies to lobby for admission of highly skilled migrants

High-tech companies in the US want to lobby under the administration of President Donald Trump, who won the election, to recruit highly skilled professionals from other countries. These aspirations will presumably be led by Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and owner of SpaceX, TASS reports.

US newspaper Politico reported that Silicon Valley companies see the future Trump administration and the dominance of Republicans in Congress as the ‘best chance’ in recent years to lobby for policies that will help attract more migrants with rare skills in science, technology, engineering and maths. Musk, a ‘close confidant’ of Trump, has been floating the idea of easing immigration for ‘super-talented people’ since the start of the election campaign, expressing the interests of the US tech lobby.

According to the publication’s estimates, such plans may meet with the anti-immigrant position of Trump’s inner circle. For example, supporters of restricting migration, led by Stephen Miller, a candidate for the post of assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for policy, warn the winning Republican that the mass admission of foreign specialists will lead to the displacement of US residents from the labour market and a decrease in the level of wages in high-tech industries. According to the newspaper, Trump may side with Silicon Valley in this dispute if he is convinced that legal migration will improve the competitiveness of American industry.