The truth about immigration? As Elon Musk shows, borders are always open for the rich | Arwa Mahdawi

When is an illegal immigrant not an illegal immigrant? When they’re a privileged white person, of course. In that case the correct classification is “enterprising expat” operating in a “legal grey area”.

No prizes for guessing who I’m referencing here. Yep, it’s America’s most irritating immigrant: Elon Musk. Over the years, the South African-born multibillionaire has amplified numerous anti-immigrant conspiracy theories and declared: “We should also not be allowing people in the country if they’re breaking the law.” Which is interesting, because the Washington Post reported on Saturday that Musk almost certainly worked in the US without correct authorisation in 1995 after he dropped out of Stanford to launch a startup called Zip2.

This isn’t entirely new news: Kimbal Musk, the billionaire’s younger brother, has been very open about working in the US without proper legal status. During an interview at a conference in 2013, for example, Kimbal bluntly stated that the brothers were “illegal immigrants” when they started Zip2. Elon interjected that it was a “grey area” and the crowd laughed. Breaking the law is very funny when you’re a certain type of person.

Musk isn’t the only big name in Maga circles with a dubious work history. According to a 2016 investigation by the Associated Press, Melania Trump (America’s second-most irritating immigrant) was paid for 10 modelling jobs in the US that occurred shortly before she had legal permission to work there. Which hasn’t stopped her husband raging about immigrants “invading” the country.

While he might not be in the Magasphere, the Duke of Sussex is another example of how immigration laws are black and white for some people and rather more “grey” for others. In his memoir, Spare, Prince Harry talked openly about taking illegal drugs such as cocaine. Whether he was quite so open about his drug use in his US visa application is another story. If he lied, it may be grounds for deportation. A recent lawsuit from a rightwing think tank attempted to get Harry’s immigration records released but was unsuccessful. We’ll probably never know the truth, but one thing is clear: immigration rules don’t apply to everyone equally. Borders are always open for the rich.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

• Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.