Social media posts by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy arguing in favor of expanding the visa program for highly skilled workers have set off a debate among supporters of President-elect Donald Trump over how the program should fit into the incoming administration’s aggressive immigration agenda.

Tesla has replaced some of its US employees who were let go as part of a big wave of layoffs earlier this year with foreign workers using H-1B visas, which CEO Elon Musk is now campaigning to increase.

In a post on X Thursday, Vivek Ramaswamy, who was tapped by Trump to slash government spending, defended the H-1B visa system and criticised American parenting practices. "Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence,

President-elect Donald Trump is weighing in on the heated debate over H1-B visas that is dividing Republicans, siding with Elon Musk who supports the program. It comes as some MAGA Republicans push to restrict the visas,

But in recent days, his coalition has split in a public debate largely taking place online about the tech industry’s hiring of foreign workers. Hard-right members of Trump’s movement have accused Musk and others in Trump’s new flank of tech-world supporters of pushing policies at odds with Trump’s “America First” vision.

FILE - President-elect Donald Trump, pictured during his first term as president, speaks in Kenosha, Wisconsin, April 18, 2017, before signing an order directing federal agencies to recommend changes to a program that brings foreign workers to the U.S. to fill high-skilled jobs.