Former President Donald Trump has a new idea of deporting all illegal immigrants but would give “brilliant” foreign-born college graduates an “automatic” green card, a proposal that has earned him scorn from some on the right.
Trump first made the call on the ‘All-In’ podcast this week: ‘(What) I want to do, and what I will do, is for you to graduate from a college, I think you should get it, automatically as part of your diploma. . , a green card to be able to remain in this country. That also includes universities,” he said in the episode recorded Wednesday.
“Anyone graduates from a university, goes there for two or four years, if they graduate or get a doctorate from a university, they should be able to stay in this country,” he continued.
Donald Trump has a new idea of deporting all illegal immigrants but would give “brilliant” foreign-born college graduates an “automatic” green card, a proposal that has earned him scorn from some on the right.
His campaign later added that this would be limited to those who have been “properly vetted.”
In recent months, Trump has insisted that he would work to deport all illegal immigrants if he were elected president again in November.
“A two-year degree in political science should NOT grant you legal residency in the United States,” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., wrote in X.
‘I am in favor of legal immigration. We should welcome capable people who can strengthen our republic and who subscribe to the values enshrined in our Constitution. But this is not all!’
“Wrong,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, responded to the idea in a record Foreign Born, 3) college is mostly overrated anti-American garbage, 4) not all degrees/jobs are created equal, 5) stop paying people to not work/train Americans.’
David Sacks, one of the podcast’s hosts, asked if he would expand H1-B work visas for tech workers after fixing the border, to which Trump responded affirmatively. He complained that “highly skilled” workers were leaving the United States because of visa problems.
‘Someone graduates at the top of their class and can’t even reach an agreement with the company because they don’t believe they will be able to stay in the country. “That will end on Day 1,” Trump said.
“It’s very sad when we lose people from Harvard, MIT and the best schools,” he added.
The new proposal appeared to be an attempt to reach his growing support in Silicon Valley. Trump raised $12 million at a tech industry fundraiser earlier this month. A growing horde of tech moguls who once reliably donated to Democrats are now shifting to back Trump.
President Biden announced his new immigration policy earlier this week: allowing 500,000 undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens to remain in the country. The White House framed the new election-year policy as a way to “keep families together.”
The new policy would allow illegal immigrants who have been in the country for at least 10 years and are married to a U.S. citizen, and their children, to apply for permanent residency without leaving the country.