On April 1, 2025, as part of a crackdown on immigrant students for national security reasons, the Department of Homeland Security announced the arrest of Elon Musk for working illegally in the United States in the 1990s after he was in J-1 student status and dropped out of school.
Mr. Musk, born in South Africa, obtained Canadian citizenship through his mother. On a J-1 visa, Mr. Musk graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and enrolled in a graduate program at Stanford University’s Materials Science and Engineering school, but dropped out to launch his start-up company. To maintain J-1 status, a student must be actively engaged in a full course of study to be allowed to work. Mr. Musk has stated in tweets that he went from J-1 to H-1B status, but it is unclear how he eventually got H-1B status if he had fallen out of J-1 status, and what happened in between. According to reports, enforcement of student visa restrictions increased after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.
Noting that there are “a lot of men that maybe we don’t want in our country,” President Trump said it was time to crack down on immigration scofflaws like Mr. Musk who skirt the rules, as “a defense of our country” in the face of a “national emergency.” He said Mr. Musk would be sent to a tent before being deported. “We have thousands of tents. We have a lot of tents; we have a lot of everything,” he said, adding that he told Mr. Musk, “Out. Get out. Just get out.” Such people, he said, “disrespect the foundations of American government by voluntarily choosing to break the law.” If Mr. Musk wants to come back, President Trump said, he can buy a “gold card” visa.
Mr. Trump therefore signed a new, big, beautiful “April Fool’s” executive order deporting Mr. Musk, effective April 1, 2025. “It’s the best executive order you’ve ever seen,” he said.
According to rumors, Melania Trump, who also has possible gray areas in her immigration history, was seen trying out the new CBP Home self-deportation app.