By tf-lawyer.com In a recent interview, reporters from the Washington Post highlighted a notable contrast between Elon Musk’s anti-immigration rhetoric and his own past experience with immigration laws in the United States. The billionaire, known for leading companies like Tesla and SpaceX, reportedly worked illegally in the U.S. during 1995 after he left Stanford University to launch his first venture, Zip2, which later sold for approximately $300 million.
Musk, who has publicly supported Donald Trump’s second presidential campaign and his stance against “open borders,” previously characterized his transition from student to entrepreneur as a “legal grey area.” However, legal experts have pointed out that foreign students are not permitted to drop out to pursue business opportunities, regardless of whether they receive compensation for their efforts.
Leon Fresco, a former immigration litigator for the U.S. Justice Department, commented on the situation, stating, “If you do anything that helps to facilitate revenue creation, such as designing code or trying to make sales, then you’re in trouble.” The Washington Post also acknowledged that while overstaying a student visa is not uncommon and sometimes overlooked by officials, it remains illegal.
Musk has maintained that he was “legally there” but claimed he was supposed to be engaged in student-related activities. Today, he oversees a workforce of 121,000 at Tesla, around 13,000 at SpaceX, and nearly 3,000 at X. This scrutiny comes as Trump expresses interest in having Musk take on a significant role aimed at improving government efficiency if he wins the upcoming election against Kamala Harris on November 5th.
Interestingly, Musk has accused Harris and the Democratic Party of “importing voters” through immigration policies that facilitate illegal and protected status. At a recent Trump campaign event, he controversially likened the U.S.-Mexico border situation to a “zombie apocalypse,” despite also proclaiming himself as “extremely pro-immigrant” given his own immigrant background.
Bloomberg News recently reported that Musk’s social media activity has taken a more political turn this election year. Their analysis of over 53,000 posts from Musk’s X account found that immigration and voter fraud have become his primary focus, accumulating about 10 billion views in total. With over 1,300 posts on these topics, including more than 330 in just the last two months, Musk’s influence on the platform remains significant. Bloomberg described him as the most important influencer on X, with reports suggesting he has directed site engineers to increase the visibility of his posts, making him the “most widely read person” on the platform today.
