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An online debate over foreign workers in tech shows tensions in Trump’s political coalition
The Toronto Blue Jays missed the postseason in 2024 and are looking to make big moves to be more competitive in 2025. They could look to sign a superstar to join their rotation if they cannot land Juan Soto. While predicting moves for teams in free agency, ESPN's David Schoenfield predicted that the Blue Jays would sign Baltimore Orioles ace Corbin Burnes to a seven-year, $225 million deal. "The Blue Jays are in a precarious position as a franchise. They swung and missed on Shohei Ohtani last offseason and then went on to lose 88 games. This winter, they're going after Soto, but if they fail to land him and then watch Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette depart as free agents after next season, it could be an ugly rebuilding period," wrote Schoenfield. "So, they need to have a backup plan this time to be all-in for 2025. That means going after Burnes, the No. 2 player on our free agent board (or No. 3, if you include Roki Sasaki)." Burnes is a four-time All-Star and National League Cy Young Award winner. Last season was his first with the Baltimore Orioles and he was great, setting himself up for a payday. His 2.92 ERA was the best since his Cy Young Award season in 2021. Signing Burnes not only helps the Blue Jays in 2025, but puts their rotation in a good spot for the future as well. "Chris Bassitt is a free agent after 2025 and Kevin Gausman is too after 2026, so they'll need a long-term reinforcement for the rotation," wrote Schoenfield. "Sign Burnes, get a bounce-back season from Bichette, strengthen the bullpen and the Jays could jump back into playoff contention. And they should sign Guerrero while they're at it." Burnes is one of the best pitchers in the game, and after Blake Snell's signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers he is the best pitcher available. The Blue Jays will have to outbid teams that are already proven contenders to land him. More MLB: Blue Jays predicted to focus on $259 million superstar if they miss on Juan Soto
By MICHELLE L. PRICE WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An online spat between factions of Donald Trump’s supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump’s movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump’s Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. The debate touched off this week when Laura Loomer , a right-wing provocateur with a history of racist and conspiratorial comments, criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Krishnan favors the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the U.S. Loomer declared the stance to be “not America First policy” and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Trump were doing so to enrich themselves. Much of the debate played out on the social media network X, which Musk owns. Loomer’s comments sparked a back-and-forth with venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks , whom Trump has tapped to be the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar.” Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tasked with finding ways to cut the federal government , weighed in, defending the tech industry’s need to bring in foreign workers. It bloomed into a larger debate with more figures from the hard-right weighing in about the need to hire U.S. workers, whether values in American culture can produce the best engineers, free speech on the internet, the newfound influence tech figures have in Trump’s world and what his political movement stands for. Trump has not yet weighed in on the rift, and his presidential transition team did not respond to a message seeking comment. Musk, the world’s richest man who has grown remarkably close to the president-elect , was a central figure in the debate, not only for his stature in Trump’s movement but his stance on the tech industry’s hiring of foreign workers. Technology companies say H-1B visas for skilled workers, used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, are critical for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated, not expanded. Born in South Africa, Musk was once on an a H-1B visa himself and defended the industry’s need to bring in foreign workers. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent,” he said in a post. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Related Articles National Politics | Should the U.S. increase immigration levels for highly skilled workers? National Politics | Trump threat to immigrant health care tempered by economic hopes National Politics | In states that ban abortion, social safety net programs often fail families National Politics | Court rules Georgia lawmakers can subpoena Fani Willis for information related to her Trump case National Politics | New 2025 laws hit hot topics from AI in movies to rapid-fire guns Trump’s own positions over the years have reflected the divide in his movement. His tough immigration policies, including his pledge for a mass deportation, were central to his winning presidential campaign. He has focused on immigrants who come into the U.S. illegally but he has also sought curbs on legal immigration , including family-based visas. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump called the H-1B visa program “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. After he became president, Trump in 2017 issued a “Buy American and Hire American” executive order , which directed Cabinet members to suggest changes to ensure H-1B visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants to protect American workers. Trump’s businesses, however, have hired foreign workers, including waiters and cooks at his Mar-a-Lago club , and his social media company behind his Truth Social app has used the the H-1B program for highly skilled workers. During his 2024 campaign for president, as he made immigration his signature issue, Trump said immigrants in the country illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country” and promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. But in a sharp departure from his usual alarmist message around immigration generally, Trump told a podcast this year that he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges. “I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country,” he told the “All-In” podcast with people from the venture capital and technology world. Those comments came on the cusp of Trump’s budding alliance with tech industry figures, but he did not make the idea a regular part of his campaign message or detail any plans to pursue such changes.
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