Kamala Harris’ Silicon Valley supporters want more H-1B visas

Venture capital, like any business, is often dominated by the loudest voices in the room — and many of those voices have expressed support for former President Donald Trump’s third attempt at the White House.

But a group that is about a month old — which, as of this writing, has 830 verified members — is backing Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. The group, VCs for Kamalais made up of founders from across the political spectrum; 30% of members identify as Republican or independent, says creator Leslie Feinzaig. While it has now become something of a counterargument to the narrative that Silicon Valley supports the former president, it didn’t start out that way.

“I just felt like someone had to say something,” said Feinzaig, the founder and CEO of venture capital firm Graham and Walkeradding that “nobody” — except for a handful of high-profile Democratic donors, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. “I had no intention of starting a movement.”

Many in venture capital — or at least those who signed up VCs to Kamala’s pledge — agreed. According to one internal survey Of those members, 89% strongly agreed that a “handful of billionaires” cannot accurately represent the views of the tech industry, while another 9% agreed. No one disagreed.

More than half of the survey respondents specifically commented on that idea, according to former Textio CEO Kieran Snyder, who helped conduct the survey. Several of those people specifically named some of Trump’s biggest supporters, including Tesla CEO Elon MuskPeter Thiel of Palantir and the founders of venture capital firm A16z.

Ninety-six percent of signatories — a list that includes Hoffman, Mark Cuban, Vinod Khosla and Stephen Wozniak — said they feel aligned with Harris’ positions on social and economic issues. Ninety-seven percent of participants said the repeal of Roe v. Wadewhich rolled back abortion rights was a “mistake,” while about 25% said access to reproductive rights was the most important issue a Harris administration should focus on.

Snyder said: “I think there’s actually a broad group that is concerned and recognizes that fundamentally it’s a business issue – because if you don’t create opportunities for women to make their own medical choices… What impact does that have on the ability of women to develop careers over time?”

Immigration is a core problem

About 94% of survey respondents said the US should invest more skilled, H-1B visa available. Many respondents are not encouraging the U.S. to embrace “borderless immigration,” Synder explains, but they do want to provide channels for more skilled immigrants to participate in the country’s economy. Silicon Valley has long pushed to expand the H-1B Visa ProgramSome critics say the program drives down wages for tech workers.

Feinzaig, who was born in Costa Rica and moved to the United States 19 years ago to study at Harvard University, described her struggle to actually stay in the country amid a series of conflicts, including losing the H-1B lottery and her employer being embroiled in a lawsuit. Under the Trump administration, her application for citizenship was denied.

“I’ve spent most of my life in America in a state of deep fear of being thrown out,” Feinzaig said. “I think it’s ridiculous that this hasn’t been resolved and solved. We’re literally going to end up as second-class citizens.”

Are generally expected that a second Trump administration would add new restrictions to H-1B visas. After taking office in 2017, Trump’s immigration policies increased the denial rate for H-1B first-time employment petitions to 21% in fiscal 2019, before a legal settlement forced the government to end several practices. The number of green cards issued to people who were not already living in the U.S. also fell, according to the Cato Institute.

If similar restrictions are reinstated under the Trump White House, companies could move jobs and resources outside the US, Forbes reports.

“We have huge shortages. I think tech companies are having a hard time hiring enough people,” said Tasneem Dohadwala, a founding partner at Excelestar Ventures who is not affiliated with VCs for Harris. “If we try to make it harder than it already is, frankly, I think it’s just going to hurt America.”

According to analysts at Goldman Sachs: the best outcome of the 2024 presidential electionAt least for the economy, a Harris victory and a Democratic victory in Congress would mean a worse outcome. The worst-case scenario would be if Trump were to return to power and implement stricter immigration controls and high tariffs on imported goods, the analysts said. A Harris presidency would likely slow immigration, but at a slower pace than a Trump White House.

About crypto and AI

On Friday, 88 current and former business leaders endorsed Harris’ candidacy for office, including several members of Harris’ VCs. That includes Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, who said he hopes Harris friendlier for business interests — particularly cryptocurrencies — than the Biden administration.

“The hope is that we don’t smear companies anymore. It’s the lifeblood of America,” Larsen told The San Francisco Standard last month. “We hope that Kamala, who’s from the Bay Area, understands that. I think that’s going to be a really significant change in what you see.”

Several prominent venture capitalists and technology leaders who support Trump’s candidacy have embrace of crypto as a major reason for their support, in contrast to Biden’s discomfort. Trump, along with his sons, are supporting an upcoming platform called World Liberty Financialand the former president is now on his fourth line of non-fungible tokens.

“My biggest concern is that what we saw in crypto was a precursor to what’s going to happen in AI,” A16Z’s Marc Andreesen said in a podcast in July when he and Ben Horowitz endorsed Trump. “They’ve sued, I think, over 30 of our companies,” Horowitz said in that podcast, referring to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The vast majority of VC respondents to Kamala’s survey agreed that the federal government needs to hire more talent with knowledge of modern technology. They also agreed that leaders need to be aware and knowledgeable about AI and crypto in order to effectively regulate the industries.

Brian Nelson, a top adviser to Harris, told tech officials last month that Harris wants to protect and grow digital assets, Washington Post reportedsuggesting Harris may be more lenient on crypto than Biden.