Donald Trump's proposal to 'automatically' grant green cards to foreign graduates sets tongues wagging

WASHINGTON, DC: Former President Donald Trump floated an idea that could let foreign students in the United States stay in the country after graduation. Appearing in an episode of the 'All-In' podcast on June 20, the 45th president proposed that non-citizens should "automatically" get a green card after they graduate from US colleges, as per NBC News.

"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," Trump, who is infamous for his anti-immigrant rhetoric said, "And that includes junior colleges, too."

The Republican White House hopeful had suggested similar plans in the 2016 presidential campaign but implemented strict limitations on legal migration after taking office.

Donald Trump says foreign graduates should get green cards with their diplomas

Trump soft-pedaled on his rather strict migration stance while answering to a host who urged the former president to promise to give them "more ability to import the best and brightest around the world to America."

Before that, one of the hosts emphasized the need for "high-skilled workers" in the US, while another noted that three of the four hosts were immigrants.

Following his green card response, the real estate mogul added that "it was so sad when we lose people from Harvard, MIT, from the greatest schools, and lesser schools that are phenomenal schools, also."

During the 2016 Republican primary debate, Trump asserted that the country needed highly skilled workers, pointing out that those who attend schools like Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton "get shoved put" soon after graduation.

"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," he said at the time.

However, his actions as president contradicted his words. Although he implemented a merit-based immigration system to prioritize highly skilled migrants in 2019, he halted new visas for foreign workers with an executive order in 2020.

Campaign for a second White House term where border crisis and illegal migration took center stage, Trump's campaign speeches often echoed anti-immigrant rhetoric similar to Adolf Hitler's. For instance, during a campaign rally in December 2023, he said that the immigrants coming to the US were "poisoning the blood of our country."

Internet debates Trump's idea to give green cards to foreign graduates

Social media users dubbed Trump's proposal to offer green cards to non-citizens after graduation a terrible idea. However, some noted the benefits of keeping bright minds in the US.

One user wrote, "Terrible. Trump needs to know this is terrible. This is profoundly ignorant. Most college graduates today are slugs. @Heritage, get on this."

Another remarked, "He also said this should include every school including junior colleges, so I'm not sure the messaging is so clear. It's better than the alternatives, but we could easily draw millions of smart people annually at this point."

A third user added, "Sounds like a great way to turn the university system into a massive diploma mill for foreigners. Are Univ Admins going to go 'We have an opportunity to recruit best and brightest' or are they going to go 'Sell as many meal tickets as possible'?"

"I was thinking 'why has no president done this yet?' and then I realized that no vote = no action. Still this would be the smartest, most obvious policy in years," read a fourth response.

Someone else said, "No. Too many US citizens can’t find work post grad. No need to dilute the pool with green card holders." While an individual opined, "He's right. It's a great way to keep all the talent here rather than send it back to their home country."

"He made it even harder kids to get H1B1 visas. Can’t believe people are falling for this.." another added.

On the other hand, a remark read, "America gets first draft pick with every talented student in the world. It makes no sense to let them go back to their home countries, often rivaling our industries, when they would prefer to be here. This should be a common sense policy across the aisle."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.