There’s one geopolitical and economic truth about our nation upon which everyone can agree — people around the world want to move to the United States of America. Why not continue to make it easier for the best and the brightest scientists, engineers and medical researchers — professionals from every other nation, a class of people who almost universally want to live and work here — to do so? That’s what the H-1B visa program does. We need the workers. They strengthen our economy when they take positions in Silicon Valley and at universities and other research hubs around the nation. President-elect Donald Trump has expressed at least tepid support for the H-1B, and first buddy Elon Musk is an enthusiastic cheerleader for the program. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent” in the U.S,. he wrote on Christmas Day on X, While that shortage can be alleviated in the long run by better engineering education at our universities, in the short run there is only one way for the Teslas and the SpaceX’s in our economy to hire the best engineers in the world — bring them in from other countries. The H-1B visa program allows skilled workers to stay in the United States for up to three years and it can be extended to six years. Some such workers of course want to become Americans, or permanent residents of our nation, and have enough time to work the bureaucracy toward that goal. Problem is, as a new administration moves into the White House this month, there is a significant faction in MAGA world that doesn’t like the successful, economically powerful H-1B program at all. That’s because its members are essentially against all immigration to the U.S., the good immigrants included. It’s a stance that is literally un-American — immigration is how America became great in the first place — but the xenophobes will have to be addressed. They are, after all, parroting a former position of Trump. When he was campaigning in 2016, Trump called H-1B “very bad for workers” and said that “we should end it.” He was singing a different tune last week. “I have many H-1B visas on my properties,” he told The New York Post. “I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program.” A subsequent check by The New York Times shows that Trump companies in fact have mostly used the H-2B visa program for unskilled workers such as gardeners and housekeepers, and the H-2A program, which is for agricultural workers, and only very rarely used the H-1B. Influential figures in Trump’s circle continue advocating for his former position. “I foresee this as a national security risk,” Laura Loomer, a Trump adviser, told the Times after the newspaper asked her about her social media posts claiming that H-1B is a threat to American workers and national sovereignty. And Steve Bannon, the longtime adviser to the president-elect and immigration opponent, reposted Musk’s comment online and then called the new key Trump ally a “toddler.” So there will be a war of words over the issue among people who have Trump’s ear. So far, the pro-immigration faction led by Musk would appear to be the most influential voices there. But that could always change. Americans who understand how key the right kind of immigration is to our powerful economy, and culture, should continue to voice their support for H-1B.