The Musk family has been open about their struggles growing up in South Africa and the subsequent opportunities since coming to the land of the free. Elon Musk and his mother Maye Musk recently posted on X about their discontent with the increase in illegal immigration after the difficulties they were put through to get to the U.S. legally.
Maye Musk said it took between nine and 12 years to get citizenship after being required to show "extreme competencies."
"Now young and old can walk into America illegally and receive numerous benefits which we pay for," she said.
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Elon Musk has also been a vocal critic of illegal immigration over the past several months. The above post from his mother was replying to a post from himself, stating, "As a reminder, I am very much PRO increasing legal immigration significantly. I'm not anti-immigration I'm just against a massive number of unvetted people flooding into America, which any rational person should be."
The Musks moved to Canada during the late 1980s citing an unwillingness to take part in an ongoing apartheid in the country and to seek greater economic opportunity.
Since coming to America, the Musks have been one of the most influential families in the country. Elon Musk is the founder and CEO of Tesla Inc., SpaceX, Neuralink and a host of other innovative companies pioneering humanity into the next generation of technology.
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But Kimbal Musk, on a recent episode of "The Lex Fridman Podcast," expressed why they came to America and opened up about some of his experiences before arriving.
The episode opened with Fridman asking about Musk previously describing South Africa, where his family is from, as "violent." Musk was quick to praise the United States and how much he appreciates America, where human life is valued. "[South Africa] was a country where human life was not valued," he said.
Kimbal Musk went on to discuss how he witnessed one person take the life of another at a train station when he was 16. Despite what many would see as a life-changing event, most walked around the incident like it never happened.
"You just walk on. Everyone walked on," he said.
The podcast went on to discuss things on a more philosophical level. The pair discussed how different countries value human life and the rights of the individual. In the United States, the value of the individual is "really high." They made this distinction because, as seen in the countries both Fridman and Musk come from, they believe "violence is much easier on a mass scale when you don’t value the human life."
Musk went on to say there is a certain joy in embracing one’s mortality because then you can enjoy every second of life. You live longer in the U.S., but "we should live longer with the goal of joy," Musk said.
The Musk family’s journey from South Africa to the United States, marked by their legal immigration challenges and eventual success, embodies a nuanced perspective on the immigration debate. Their public discussions reveal an appreciation for the opportunities America offers while also advocating for a balanced approach to immigration that ensures both security and the potential for positive contributions. This narrative reflects the broader complexities and emotions surrounding the topic of immigration in America today.
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