Opinion: Trump’s attack on international students threatens tech’s workforce
Silicon Valley leaders and tech workers better track Donald Trump’s campaign to purge international students across the nation from Harvard University to UC Berkeley.
The president may come for them next.
Trump claims, with little evidence, that Harvard’s pupils from overseas contribute to “a hostile learning environment for Jewish students” and are “coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.”
The administration broadened its assault last month as Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised to revoke visas held by Chinese students nationwide, including as many as 50,000 attending California colleges. And Trump issued an unprecedented order this month blocking nearly all foreign students from entering the country to study at Harvard.
Leaders of high-tech firms, who are dependent on the ingenuity of foreign-born, U.S.-trained engineers and coders, grasp the absurdity of the president’s attack.
Last year, Apple hired 864 immigrants through the H-1B visa program that allows U.S. companies to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty occupations. Intel hired 851; Tesla, 742.
The three firms were among the 25 companies that hired the most H-1B employees last year. Many of these tech workers were trained at Stanford, Harvard and other top American universities.
Elon Musk’s tortured break-up this past week with Trump places tech and higher education even further at risk.
Musk was the administration’s most vocal defender of H-1B visas, battling far-right advisers in the MAGA circle who shun all varieties of immigrants. Musk understands the value of immigrants. He arrived at the University of Pennsylvania on a student visa in 1992. He argues that attracting the top 0.1% of engineering talent from the rest of the world is “essential for America to keep winning.”
But other tech leaders remain mum as Trump rails against students and universities.
Even though Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have pledged $500 million to Harvard for research into “natural and artificial intelligence,” they have said nothing publicly about Trump’s attacks on the university, which is their alma mater.
And what about Tim Cook? Apple’s CEO has cozied up to the president since his first term. But Trump turned on Cook last month, threatening a 25% tariff on iPhones, assembled in India, which keeps prices low for consumers. Rather than standing up to Trump, Cook keeps bending to political winds.
So, how might Silicon Valley leaders balance realpolitik with protecting a workforce unmatched in creative genius and productivity?
They can start by standing up for universities, whose graduates power their companies.
The tech industry sprouted with the help of immigrants from within inventive academic circles, dot-com greenhouses like those found at Stanford University. Think Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo, or Wojciech Zaremba who co-founded OpenAI.
Tech leaders’ muffled responses, even as Trump unleashes senseless attacks, will drive promising students to other countries and erode their industry’s contributions to our state and national economy.
After defending universities, tech leaders should unite with civic leaders who care about America’s long-term vitality. While Trump promises to create jobs, tech firms actually deliver them.
Apple, for example, is erecting a new hub in Detroit, aiming to train a new generation of manufacturers and entrepreneurs in cooperation with Michigan universities. Such efforts renew growth in the heartland, rather than widening inequality and cultural divides with Americans living on the affluent coasts.
But until big tech leaders speak up, an eerie silence will continue to haunt Silicon Valley as Trump maligns our best universities and shuts off the pipeline of talented immigrants who pioneer American innovation.
Bruce Fuller is professor emeritus of education and public policy at UC Berkeley.