World News
Elon Musk worked illegally in US early in his career: Report
Musk has always said his time as a student-turned-entrepreneur has been “legally ambiguous”.
WASHINGTON: Elon Musk, an ardent critic of illegal immigrants and a staunch supporter of Donald Trump who has for years portrayed migrants as invaders and criminals, worked “illegally” in the United States early in his career, The Washington Post reported.
According to the report, Musk, who is originally from South Africa, dropped out of Stanford University in 1995 and worked on his first company, Zip2, for four years before it was sold for about $300 million. During this time, he was working without the correct authorization.
The report said two of Musk’s former colleagues also said Musk got his US work authorization around 1997.
Being a foreign student in the US, Musk could not have left school to form a company as per the rules.
The post said that overstaying a student visa is common in most cases, however, it is still illegal.
Despite this, Musk has always said that his time as a student-turned-entrepreneur is a “legal grey area”.
The report also cited a 2020 podcast in which Musk said he was in the US legally but his purpose was to do student work. “I was allowed to do any kind of work I wanted,” he said.
Many of the Tesla and SpaceX boss’ recent posts on social media platforms have been on immigration and voter fraud, including accusing White House candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris of “importing voters” through illegal immigration. Last week, he compared the US-Mexico border – where many Mexican immigrants enter the US – to a “zombie apocalypse”.
