Elon Musk reportedly worked in the US as illegal, Biden calls out Trump's megadonor

Billionaire Elon Musk, who is touted as an “enemy of open borders,” briefly worked in the United States illegally in 1995. According to a bombshell report from The Washington Post, Musk was considered illegal in the country after he abandoned a graduate studies program in California. In the past, Musk has said that his transition from student to entrepreneur was a “legal grey area”.

However, the Tesla CEO has pushed visceral hate towards illegal immigrants after he endorsed former US President Donald Trump. The Washington Post report published on Saturday maintained that Musk was almost certainly working in the US without correct authorization for a period in 1995.

During this period the SpaceX supremo dropped out of Stanford University to work on his debut company, Zip2, which was sold for about $300m four years later. Legal experts noted that foreign students cannot drop out of school to build a company even if they are not getting paid for it. However, The Washington Post maintained that prior to the devastating 9/11 attacks, the regulations for student visas were more lax.

Is this a serious matter?

Leon Fresco, a former US Justice Department immigration litigator told the American news outlet, that if a person who is illegal in the country works at an entity that generates revenue can get in trouble. “If you do anything that helps to facilitate revenue creation, such as design code or try to make sales in furtherance of revenue creation, then you’re in trouble,” Fresco explained.

However, according to The Washington Post, “while overstaying a student visa is somewhat common and officials have at times turned a blind eye to it, it remains illegal.” In the past, Musk claimed that he had been working in the country legally.

“I was legally there, but I was meant to be doing student work. I was allowed to do work sort of supporting whatever,” the world’s wealthiest billionaire previously said. Musk’s immigration status garnered major scrutiny after Trump touted his desire to play a high-profile role focused on government efficiency in a second Trump administration if he comes back to the Oval Office.

Biden takes potshots

Shortly after the explosive report stirred major headlines, US President Joe Biden called out the South African-born billionaire for his hypocrisy on immigration. The POTUS insisted that Musk launched his long career in the US as an “illegal worker” before becoming the world’s wealthiest man.

The president commented on the matter while he was campaigning for Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “That wealthiest man in the world turned out to be an illegal worker here when he was here,” referring to Musk as Trump’s wealthy new ally.

“He was supposed to be in school when he came on a student visa. He wasn’t in school. He was violating the law. He’s talking about all these ‘illegals’ coming our way,” he added.