Donald Trump’s campaign team is reversing a promise made by the former president to automatically issue a green card to all foreign students studying in the United States upon graduation.
Speaking of The All-In Podcast On Thursday, Trump said: “What I want to do and what I will do is that when you graduate from college, I believe you should automatically get a green card as part of your diploma to be able to stay in this country.”
Trump also clarified that this move would not only apply to graduates of four-year universities.
“This also applies to junior colleges. Anyone who graduates from college stays there for two or four years. If you get your degree there or get a doctorate, you should be able to stay in this country.”
After the idea met with immediate resistance, the campaign is now emphasizing a rigorous vetting process as part of its plan.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said: The New York Post that it was “a crazy suggestion”.
“If someone gets a doctorate in a natural science at a university, I personally go to their home and give them a green card,” Krikorian said.
“The problem is that any foreign university graduate, even from a fake two-year master’s program or gender studies, would get a green card.”
According to Fox News, Chris Chmielenski, chairman of the conservative Immigration Accountability Project, said the plan would “lower wages for all Americans, increase competition in the job market, especially for college graduates, and pose a threat to national security.”
“US immigration policy must serve the interests of all Americans, not the interests of elite business leaders seeking cheap labor.”
Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a media statement: “President Trump has made it clear that on the first day of his new term in office, he will close the border and begin the largest mass deportation of illegal immigrants in history.”
She also said that Trump’s green card proposal would also include an “aggressive vetting process” that would “exclude all communists, radical Islamists, Hamas supporters, America haters and public accusers.”
Leavitt continued, “He believes that only after such screening should we retain the most qualified graduates who can make significant contributions to America. This would apply only to the most thoroughly screened college graduates who would never undercut American wages or workers.”
The former president made the remark after one of the podcast’s hosts, investor Jason Calacanis, asked him, “Can you please promise us that you will give us more opportunities to bring the best and brightest minds from around the world to America?”
Trump expressed his frustration that some US graduates leave the country and start businesses in China or India because they cannot obtain residency visas.
