<br><div><aside aria-label="advertisement" class="gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__bv"/><aside aria-label="advertisement" class="gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__bvd gnt_x__h"/><aside class="gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el" aria-label="Video - 2024 deportations under Biden, Harris higher than any year of Trump's presidency"><div class="gnt_em_vp_w" data-g-r="vp_tp" data-c-vt="teal" data-t-pl="teal-hero"><button class="gnt_em_vp_a gnt_em_vp__tp_a" data-g-r="vp_ap vp_tg" data-c-vpattrs="{"muted":true,"bContent":false,"an":"usatoday","pn":"USA TODAY","vidNum":1,"docking":true,"t0060":1,"cut":1}" data-c-vpdata="{"adsEnabled":true,"awsPath":"news/politics","byline":"Ryan Ross","canonicalURL":"","contentSourceCode":"USAT","credit":"","duration":40000,"headline":"2024 deportations under Biden, Harris higher than any year of Trump's presidency","hlsURL":"https://hlsmedia.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/videos/zype/renditions/6765b38da1d42b000187bcaa/480p_30fps,720p_30fps,1080p_30fps,master.m3u8?subtitles=77107184007","id":"77107184007","image":{"opto":true,"url":"/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2024/12/20/USAT/77107312007-getty-images-2162011564.jpg?crop=5322,2994,x0,y184"},"keywords":"Deportation,Joe Biden,Immigration,VPC - Video Analytics,Video Syndication - USAT,Syndication - Vertical Video","mp4URL":"https://downloadmedia.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/videos/zype/renditions/6765b38da1d42b000187bcaa/1080p_30fps.mp4","origin":"USA TODAY","pageURL":{"long":"https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/politics/2024/12/20/deportations-surge-in-final-year-of-the-biden-harris-administration/77107184007/"},"promoBrief":"A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement report reveals the highest single-year deportation total under President Biden since 2014.","propertyName":"USATODAY","series":"","ssts":{"section":"news","subsection":"politics","topic":"","subtopic":""},"tags":[{"id":"e88cb684-7622-4856-8825-f4aaa314903a","name":"Deportation"},{"id":"bce3c45f-197d-4845-8248-87d4f3a737c8","name":"Joe Biden"},{"id":"d5a5bacd-6941-496d-8740-25ba344d516d","name":"Immigration"},{"id":"12cc5543-9f04-49f7-9b7f-d0d46b93b8e0","name":"VPC - Video Analytics"},{"id":"6f55135f-3b5e-490d-8a52-a3b8e1f11ee7","name":"Video Syndication - USAT"},{"id":"e0175a3c-0c15-42c4-b26b-43a3fc96471f","name":"Syndication - Vertical Video"}],"title":"Deportations surge in final year of the Biden-Harris administration","url":"/videos/news/politics/2024/12/20/deportations-surge-in-final-year-of-the-biden-harris-administration/77107184007/"}" aria-label="Play video"><img alt="" class="gnt_em_vp_img" src="https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2024/12/22/NSHT/77157277007-trump-musk.jpg?crop=1319,743,x0,y0&width=660&height=371&format=pjpg&auto=webp" data-g-r="vp_po" fetchpriority="high" elementtiming="ar-lead-image" decoding="async"/><svg class="gnt_em_vp_svg"><use xlink:href="#gnt_svg_video_play"/></svg></button></div></aside><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">The recent <a target="_blank" href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/01/02/trump-musk-immigration-h1b-visa-jobs/77317795007/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">kerfuffle within the MAGA world over a visa program</a> for foreign workers has revealed an important distinction in the immigration debate: There is a huge difference between coming to this country legally and illegally.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">President-elect Donald Trump won the election in large part over his promises to secure the border and deport millions of illegal immigrants. </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">But <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/elon-musk-vows-war-over-h-1b-visa-program-amid-rift-with-some-trump-supporters-2024-12-28/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-t-l=":b|z|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Trump angered his base</a> last weekend when he sided with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in their support for H-1B visas that bring in highly skilled foreign workers. </p><figure class="gnt_em gnt_em_img"><img class="gnt_em_img_i" style="height:372px" fetchpriority="high" data-g-r="lazy" src="https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2024/12/22/NSHT/77157277007-trump-musk.jpg?width=660&height=372&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp" srcset="https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2024/12/22/NSHT/77157277007-trump-musk.jpg?width=1320&height=744&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp 2x" decoding="async" alt="President-elect Donald Trump greets SpaceX CEO Elon Musk at a test flight of the Starship rocket on Nov. 19, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas."/></figure><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Musk, a naturalized U.S. citizen from South Africa, is a particularly fierce defender of the program, as it has benefitted him personally and professionally, and he took to social media <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1872860577057448306" data-type="link" data-id="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1872860577057448306" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-t-l=":b|z|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">to broadcast his support in fairly colorful language</a>. </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Given Musk and Ramaswamy’s new “government efficiency” role in the incoming Trump administration, some have tried to show the H-1B visa dispute as an example of their outsized influence on the incoming president.</p><aside aria-label="advertisement" class="gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Yet, it’s perfectly logical for Trump to support the program, and it’s encouraging that he has done so. </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"><strong class="gnt_ar_b_al">Opinion:</strong><a target="_blank" href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/12/30/musk-ramaswamy-doge-trump-national-debt/77181240007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|spike click:9|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Can Musk rein in exorbitant national debt? America's economic future is at stake.</a></p><h2 class="gnt_ar_b_h2">'America is the land of freedom and opportunity'</h2><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Musk got the conversation going when <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1872860577057448306" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-t-l=":b|z|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">he posted this to his social media platform, X</a>: “The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that...</p></div> <style> .wrapper { text-align: center; } </style> <div class="wrapper"> <a class="button" href ="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/01/03/trump-musk-visa-immigration-border-security/77320839007/">Read more <span>➤</span></a> </div>
