Hundreds of Twitter employees on H-1B visas fear being deported if Elon Musk fires them

Hundreds of employees on high-skill work visas may be in danger of being deported because of Musk's cost-cutting plan.

According to official records, at least 250 people seem to be employed on a H-1B visa.

According to an analysis by the National Foundation for American Policy, that number could be as high as 670, or 8% of the company before it was cut.

The social media giant's workforce was slashed on Thursday night, with access to work applications cut off.

According to Insider, about half of the workforce is expected to lose their jobs. The consequences could be worse for some workers.

There have been 168 H-1B visas approved by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Since 2009, the company has gotten approval for 673 such visas.

H-1B visas are given to people from other countries who have a bachelor's degree or higher. They can go up to six years, but only for three years.

Migrants have 60 days to find a new job if sponsored employment is lost. 65,000 successful applications are allowed by the US.

Hundreds of employment-conditional migrants were working at Twitter before Musk's layoffs, according to records.

Musk asked the vice-presidents to come up with a list of employees who were not worth keeping on. It's not clear what departments visa-tied employees work for or how vulnerable their positions are to layoffs.

Musk will have to pay the "reasonable costs" of transportation of migrant workers who have been terminated before the end of their authorized stay.

Musk was able to stay in the US after finishing his college degree thanks to the H-1B visa. Donald Trump was reprimanded by him for suspending the work visas.

Musk is being sued for not giving adequate notice over mass layoffs which may provide some respite for vulnerable workers. Some staff have disagreed with the billionaire's claim that everyone who left was offered three months of severance.

Some staff at the company were offered to be laid off to make room for their colleagues on work visas, according to a user on the social networking site. Insider couldn't confirm this information.

The number of employees on special work visas and how many had been laid off were not responded to by the company.