Elon Musk’s citizenship history, explored

Is there anyone in the world more embarrassing than Elon Musk?

Apartheid Clyde — the nickname given to Musk by rapper Azealia Banks — is the adult equivalent of the rich kid who takes their ball and goes home in a strop when they aren’t the center of attention. Whether it’s claiming to be a free speech absolutist while throwing a hissy fit about posts he doesn’t like and then banning them or his weird obsession with the letter “x”, he is a walking joke in all the worst ways.

Now that he’s bankrolling the Republican Party, his hypocrisy is even more outlandish and infuriating, especially as it relates to his former status as an immigrant to the U.S.

Elon Musk is a naturalized citizen

As per the Washington Post, naturalized citizen Musk, who has been at the forefront of recent Republican policy pushes, began working illegally in the States, violating the terms of his student visa. If this crime had been to support himself with a minimum wage job while he slaved away at school, that could at least be forgiven as someone simply trying to get ahead through grit. However, Musk had no need to work as he was born into immense wealth, which he used to get around a system he now wants to use to victimize those born without his privilege.

Musk’s alleged illegal employment began in 1995 when he arrived at Stanford University, only to not enroll in classes and instead launch a company called Zip2. By not being in school, Musk had no legal basis to remain in the States, something that was known at the time. Instead of owning up to this law breaking, Musk used his familial wealth to hire lawyers who advised him to minimize his leadership role in the organization and remove any references to U.S addresses from things like resumes.

Musk has denied working illegally in the U.S, instead claiming he had a J-1 student visa, before moving onto a H-1B visa for skilled workers. H-1B visas were a big target of the previous Trump administration, although his team’s incompetency meant restrictions were never fully put in place. Musk has declined to comment on when he obtained the H-1B, but he has at least admitted to being in a “gray area,” which for him is as good as an actual confession.

In a fair country, Musk would be forced to answer for his immigration crimes, or at least be denied security clearance. But this is America, which has a two-tiered system where average people can be killed while they sleep in their homes with no repercussions for the murderer, while the rich like Musk can have strong links to child sex traffickers and face no issues. For those unaware, a naturalized citizen is one who obtains citizenship through a variety of legal formal legal processes, while a natural-born citizen acquires it at birth without the need for taking any legal steps.

It appears the “gray area” Musk spoke of refers to the status of the legal steps he has taken to receive citizenship, though he has always strongly claimed to be a naturalized citizen.