Trump vows to give green cards to foreign grads residing in US
3 Min Read
Trump is asked on a podcast on immigrants and high-skilled labor in the US, given a record background of using hate rhetoric against immigrants.
-
A baby runs before Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event Tuesday, June 18, 2024, in Racine, Wis. (AP)
In a podcast published on Thursday, former President Donald Trump proposed that foreign nationals living in the United States "automatically" receive green cards upon graduating from college.
Appealing to this category, Trump said, "What I want to do and what I will do is you graduate from a college, I think you should get automatically as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country," adding, "And that includes junior colleges, too."
On the podcast, Trump was answering a host's statement that "we need high-skilled workers in this country." Three of the four hosts are immigrants, another person pointed out in their comment.
One host asked, "Can you please promise us you will give us more ability to import the best and brightest around the world to America?"
Trump promised he would, adding that it is "so sad when we lose people from Harvard, MIT, from the greatest schools, and lesser schools that are phenomenal schools, also."
Just a few moments prior, Trump had reiterated his recurrent and baseless assertion that migrants entering the United States through the southern border originate from prisons, jails, mental health facilities, and crazy asylums. Additionally, he said, without providing any supporting data, that "we have terrorists coming into our country at a level that we've never seen before."
When asked about visas for highly educated workers, Trump responded, "We need highly skilled people in this country," during a 2016 Republican primary debate.
"They’ll go to Harvard. They’ll go to Stanford. They’ll go to Wharton. As soon as they’re finished, they get shoved out," Trump said back in 2016, adding, "They want to stay in this country. They want to stay here desperately. They’re not able to stay here. For that purpose, we absolutely have to be able to keep the brainpower in this country."
However, in reality, some noncitizen workers found it more difficult to remain in the United States under Trump's administration due to an increase in visa denials and renewals.
Trump unveiled a merit-based legal immigration system in 2019 that gives priority to highly educated immigrants. However, he also issued an executive order in 2020 freezing the issuance of new visas for foreign workers.
Currently running for reelection, Trump frequently centers his campaign speeches around anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Read more: Immigration rights groups sue Biden administration
Back in December, Trump stated at a rally in New Hampshire that immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country."
Trump had previously pledged to "root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie, steal, and cheat on elections."
Trump told the rally these people coming from Africa, Asia, and all over the world were “poisoning the blood of our country."
“They poison mental institutions and prisons all over the world, not just in South America … but all over the world."
