Former US President Donald Trump, known for his strong anti-immigration stance, suggested on Thursday (local time) that foreign students who graduate from college in the United States should automatically receive a green card so they can stay in the country.
He stressed the need to retain the brightest minds in the world who want to stay in the US and have plans that can benefit the country.
“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, and that includes junior colleges too,” Trump said in an episode of the All-In podcast, which is hosted by several venture capitalists.
He floated the idea after being asked by the host if he would promise to “give us the ability to import the best and brightest around the world to America.”
Notably, the former president has used harsh rhetoric about illegal immigration throughout his campaign. Recently, he criticized President Joe Biden for not being able to decrease the number of migrants crossing the border illegally.
Trump is known for his hardline stance on immigration. He has promised that if he’s re-elected, he’ll carry out mass deportations, end birthright citizenship, and reinstitute his prohibition on people entering the US from certain Muslim-majority nations, according to Politico.
During his tenure as President, Trump consistently promised to build a border wall along the US-Mexico border, although only 452 miles of the wall were built by the time he left office.
However, it is unclear if Trump’s suggestion also applies to those who came to the country illegally.
“I know of stories where people graduated from a top college or from college, and they desperately wanted to stay here and had a plan for a company, a concept. And they can’t,” Politico quoted Trump as saying.
“Somebody graduates at the top of the class, they can’t even make a deal with a company because they don’t think they’re going to be able to stay in the country. That is going to end on day one.”