WP "Starting a Business Without Residency Status"
Biden Criticized as a 'Leader in Anti-Immigration'
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, denied media reports claiming that he worked illegally in the United States without proper residency status in the past.
On the 27th (local time), according to the American daily The Washington Post (WP), Musk wrote on X (formerly Twitter) early that morning, "I was actually authorized to work in the United States," targeting the WP which first reported the story, saying, "Biden's puppet is lying."
Musk added on X, "I was on a J-1 visa and then switched to an H1-B. They have all my records, so they know this. Losing the election is making them desperate."
The U.S. J-1 exchange visitor visa allows foreign students to gain practical experience related to their field of study at a U.S. workplace. The H1-B visa permits temporary employment.
Musk's stance came after WP reported the previous day that he had worked illegally for a period while entering the U.S. as a student in the 1990s and establishing a startup, and after President Joe Biden criticized Musk regarding this matter.
WP cited major shareholders and business associates of Musk's past startups, court records, and company documents, reporting that Musk, born in South Africa, came to Palo Alto, California in 1995 to attend graduate school at Stanford University but never enrolled.
In the same year, Musk founded the startup Zip2 and sold the company about four years later in 1999 for approximately $300 million (about 400 billion KRW).
WP pointed out that despite losing his student status, Musk remained in the U.S., established a company, and worked illegally. Foreign students studying in the U.S. can obtain part-time jobs under limited conditions, but to do so, they must remain enrolled in a degree program to maintain their student status, which Musk did not.
On the day WP's report was published, President Biden criticized Musk's attitude as hypocritical during a campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, despite Musk's history of illegal work and his leading criticism of the current administration's immigration policies.
Biden said, "This richest man in the world was found to have been an illegal worker when he was here," adding, "He was supposed to be in school when he came on a student visa. But he was not in school. He was breaking the law. And now he is talking about all these illegal immigrants coming to our side?"
Musk, who transferred to the University of Pennsylvania in 1992 and came to the U.S., obtained U.S. citizenship in 2002, has supported former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and criticized the Biden administration's immigration policies.
He claimed that Democrats, including Vice President Harris, were "importing voters by encouraging illegal immigration," and last month posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account that "illegal immigration must stop."
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