Elon Musk’s electric car manufacturer, Tesla, brought employment to Texas, but a substantial portion of jobs did not go to Texans.
Almost 10% of Tesla’s Texas-based employees are imported foreign labor.
Roughly 2,000 Tesla employees in Texas are H-1B visa holders, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) H-1B Employer Data Hub.
Tesla reportedly had 23,000 employees in Texas in 2023, per the Austin-American Statesman.
The H-1 B Salary Database for 2024 reveals that Tesla filed H-1B visa applications with USCIS to fill roles ranging from analysts to engineers to construction managers.
However, H-1B workers are likely not the only people who have followed Tesla to Texas.
The children and spouses of H-1B workers are eligible for H-4 visas, meaning that entire family units can move with an H-1B employee. Dependent spouses can apply with USCIS for employment in the U.S., allowing them to work in Texas, too, in some cases.
H-4 visa children can attend public schools. Likewise, U.S. business immigration attorneys with the law firm Reddy Neuman Brown PC say that H-4 visa holders may also qualify for other social services, such as unemployment benefits.
“The H-1B program allows employers in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in occupations that require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher in the specific specialty, or its equivalent,” the USCIS website stated.
The Department of Labor indicates that the H-1B program is intended for employers who cannot find native-born American workers with a specialized skill set.
“The intent of the H-1B provisions is to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States,” the government agency noted.
The choice to employ H-1B labor comes as Tesla has repeatedly fended off efforts by its employees to unionize. While H-1B workers are permitted by law to unionize with their native-born American coworkers, H-1B workers are distinct from U.S. citizens because their ability to stay in the country depends on their employer’s sponsorship of their visa.
Musk has previously been critical of labor unions and United Autoworkers (UAW) attempts to organize his plants.
“UAW did nada for job security in last recession. Dropped Fremont like a hot potato to protect their core base in Detroit. UAW *chose* to exit this plant before Tesla even arrived. We had nothing to do with UAW leaving, but everything to do with why people here have jobs,” Musk said in part during a lengthy exchange on X in 2018.
Since this post, UAW and other labor organizations have unsuccessfully attempted to organize Tesla workers.
Revelations about Tesla’s use of foreign labor have coincided with an online firestorm about the future of H-1B labor in the next presidential administration. The heated online debate began on Christmas with a post from Musk on his social media platform X.
“If you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be. That enables the whole TEAM to win,” Musk posted, defending the H-1B program.
“I am referring to bringing in via legal immigration the top ~0.1% of engineering talent as being essential for America to keep winning,” Musk followed up in another post. “Thinking of America as a pro sports team that has been winning for a long time and wants to keep winning is the right mental construct.”
He doubled down during an exchange with another X user on December 27.
“The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B,” Musk said.
He then went on to quote the 2008 action-comedy movie Tropic Thunder.
“Take a big step back and F**K YOURSELF in the face,” Musk railed.
Critics of Musk and his preferred immigration policy claim to have been de-badged and demonetized from X, The Dallas Express reported.
President-elect Donald Trump, who tapped Musk to guide the incoming Department of Government Efficiency, was once himself an H-1B critic.
“Megyn Kelly asked about highly-skilled immigration. The H-1B program is neither high-skilled nor immigration: these are temporary foreign workers, imported from abroad, for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay,” then-candidate Trump said during his first presidential bid in 2016.
Trump signaled an interest in restricting or eliminating the program. “I remain totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse and ending outrageous practices such as those that occurred at Disney in Florida when Americans were forced to train their foreign replacements. I will end forever the use of the H-1B as a cheap labor program, and institute an absolute requirement to hire American workers first for every visa and immigration program. No exceptions,” he added.
During his first term as President, Trump added restrictions to the program and excoriated the Tennessee Valley Authority for taking similar action to Disney and replacing American employees with H-1B visa holders.
However, Trump’s views appear to have since softened.
“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,” Trump recently told the New York Post.
Tesla’s press office was contacted during the production of this story but did not receive a response by the time of publication.