The Republican contender known for his hardline stance on immigration says graduates should be able to stay in the country.
Former US President Donald Trump has said he would automatically grant green cards to foreign graduates of US universities if he were re-elected, a surprising reversal from the Republican known for his tough stance on immigration.
During a podcast interview with Silicon Valley tech investors on Thursday, Trump promised to make it easier for talent to come to the United States and said anyone who graduates from an American university should be able to stay in the country.
“It's very sad when we lose people from Harvard, MIT, top schools and lesser schools that are also phenomenal schools,” Trump said during an appearance on the All-In Podcast hosted by Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks and David Friedberg .
“I think you should automatically, as part of your diploma, get a green card to be able to stay in this country and that includes universities as well,” Trump added.
A green card gives individuals the right to live and work permanently in the U.S. and offers a path to citizenship.
Trump's proposal, which would potentially create hundreds of thousands of new citizenship applicants each year, marks a marked departure from the hardline rhetoric on immigration that fueled his rise within the Republican Party.
Trump, who once claimed that immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country,” has pledged to undertake the largest deportation of undocumented immigrants in U.S. history and has repeatedly attacked his Democratic rival, President Joe Biden. for being soft on immigration.
At a campaign event in Wisconsin on Tuesday, Trump criticized a program Biden announced this week that will allow undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens to apply for permanent residency without having to leave the country.
“Our country is under invasion. “We shouldn't be talking about amnesty, but rather stopping the invasion,” Trump said.
About 11 million immigrants live in the United States without authorization, according to Department of Homeland Security estimates.
Although Trump has directed much of his ire at undocumented migration, he sharply reduced legal immigration while in office.
The Trump administration reduced the number of green cards and immigrant visas by 418,453 and 11,178,668, respectively, according to an analysis by the Cato Institute, although most of the decrease was due to restrictions introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During his appearance on the All-In Podcast, Trump said the pandemic had disrupted his plans to grant green cards to foreign graduates.
“I know stories of people graduating from a top college or university and they desperately wanted to stay here. “They had a plan for a company, a concept, and they can’t,” Trump said.
“They go back to India, they go back to China, they do the same basic business in those places and they become billionaires employing thousands and thousands of people, and it could have been done here.”
