As you may have seen online, the girls are fighting. But unlike most political scuffles, this one may end with a billionaire getting booted from the country.
The bromantic alliance between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk publicly imploded Thursday after Musk voiced aggressive opposition to Trump’s budget bill. Trump then threatened to cancel Musk’s government contracts and subsidies as Musk accused the president of being an associate of the late convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon on Thursday called for Musk to be deported, telling The New York Times he is of the “strong belief” that Musk is an “illegal alien.”
Although Musk, a South African national, is a naturalized U.S. citizen, The Washington Post reported in October that he worked illegally at his first startup in 1995, obtaining a student visa to enter a graduate degree program at Stanford University but never enrolling in courses.
When he applied for citizenship soon after, Musk likely glossed over this indiscretion. Legal experts agree that lying in a citizenship application could be grounds for revocation, although such a step would be unusual.
Given that Musk may soon find himself in trouble, we spoke with Bay Area immigration attorneys to see what his options are.
“To paraphrase the obnoxious and misleading public service announcements of the secretary of Homeland Security: Leave now, and maybe you’ll be able to come back again in the future,” said Bill Ong Hing, a professor and associate dean at the University of San Francisco School of Law.
“Get a lawyer,” said Caitlin Patler, a UC Berkeley sociology professor specializing in immigration law. “People in removal proceedings are 5.5 times more likely to win relief from deportation if they have representation.”
“It sounds like Mr. Musk may need an attorney soon,” said Vanessa Dojaquez-Torres of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “Ailalawyer.com is an excellent resource to find an immigration attorney.”
Robert P. Gaffney, an immigration attorney who works with skilled employees and executives, cautioned that he couldn’t comment on a specific case but could speak broadly.
He said it’s unusual for authorities to strip citizenship once granted.
“Undoing that requires a very gung-ho U.S. attorney willing to challenge naturalization,” Gaffney said. “We don’t usually see that in cases that don’t involve a slam dunk. It would have to be something that really gets them excited.”
However, if the Trump administration did strip somebody of their citizenship and try to deport them, they could apply for cancellation of removal, Gaffney said.
So long as Musk could prove he has lived in the U.S. for the last 10 years; has demonstrated “good moral character”; has not been convicted of a serious criminal offense; and that his removal would cause exceptional hardship to a U.S. citizen or green card-holding family members, he may have a case.
No matter what happens to Musk, the fireworks on X were quite a spectacle.
“This is shaping up to be the best day on Twitter since [Trump] got Covid,” one user said.