Donald Trump's AI head Sriram Krishnan’s views on H1B visas, green cards

Incoming US President Donald Trump recently appointed Sriram Krishnan as his Senior Advisor on Artificial Intelligence. Chennai born techie Sriram Krishnan has vast experience and has been a general partner of the American venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz since 2021. He began his career with Microsoft, after which he joined Facebook. Till 2019, Sriram Krishnan worked for Twitter (now X) and closely worked with Elon Musk who will be co-heading DOGE (Department for Government efficiency) 

While announcing his appointment, Trump in a post on X said: 

“Sriram Krishnan will serve as Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy…Sriram will focus on ensuring continued American leadership in A.I., and help shape and coordinate A.I. policy across Government, including working with the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology” 

In his post, Trump also mentioned Krishnan’s rich experience and the fact that he began his career with Microsoft. 

Interestingly, Sriram Krishnan has spoken in favour of expanding the H1B program and expediting the green card for individuals belonging to certain professions. He has also been in favour of removing the country cap on H1-B visas and Green cards.  

Several Trump supporters were critical of his appointment pointing to his stance on H1B and Green cards. Far-right American activist Laura Loomer said that Sriram Krishnan’s views on immigration are diametrically opposite to those of Trump and go against the “America First” agenda of Donald Trump. She also dubbed the Indian origin entrepreneur as a “career leftist”. 

David Sacks, Incoming White House A.I. & Crypto Czar  and Elon Musk came to Sriram Krishan’s defense.  

Sacks highlighted the point that Sriram Krishnan does not want to remove all caps, but country-based ones. Said Sacks 

“Sriram still supports skills-based criteria for receiving a green card, not making the program unlimited. He wants to make the program entirely merit-based”.. 

Elon Musk also said that the criticism of Sriram Krishnan lacked merit and was based on the ‘fixed-pie’ fallacy. Said Musk in a post on X: 

“The ‘fixed pie’ fallacy is at the heart of much wrong-headed economic thinking. There is essentially infinite potential for job and company creation. Think of all the things that didn’t exist 20 or 30 years ago!”  

The appointment of Sriram Krishnan points to the possible divide within the upcoming Trump administration regarding immigration policies.  

It is not just Sriram Krishnan, even Elon Musk himself has repeatedly highlighted the fact that the US should be open to welcoming talented individuals who contribute towards the country’s economy.  

Here it would be pertinent to point out that Trump himself has spoken about the need for US to welcome and retain talent. During an interview, the incoming president had said that international students who graduate from US colleges should be granted Green cards. It remains to be seen if Trump actually implements this proposal. 

In conclusion, it remains to be seen if Trump and his team go ahead with some of the tough policy reforms pertaining to immigration while also focusing on retaining international students with skills and qualifications. There could be divisions in the upcoming administration on the issue of immigration. Certain members of his team would not be opposed to an immigration policy which is merit-based, while others may favour an approach which is driven more by political interests and aimed at appealing to certain constituencies. While course-corrections in the realm of immigration policies are taking place across the Anglosphere – UK, Canada and Australia – some changes under Trump 2.0 can not be ruled out. At the same time an excessively insular immigration policy which discourages students and professionals would be counter productive for the US.  

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own and do not reflect those of DNA.)

The author is a policy analyst and faculty member at the Jindal School of International Affairs, OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat.