In a surprising shift from his usual anti-immigrant rhetoric, former President Donald Trump announced in an interview posted on Thursday that he plans to grant automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges. This proposal marks a significant departure from his typical stance on immigration.
During a podcast conversation with venture capitalists and tech investors on the “All-In” show, Trump outlined his vision for retaining talented graduates in the United States.
A look at what exactly Trump said
When asked about his views on legal immigration, Trump responded by saying –
“let me just tell you that it’s so sad when we lose people from Harvard, MIT, from the greatest schools and lesser schools that are phenomenal schools also.
But 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, and that includes junior colleges too. Anybody graduates from a college, you go in there for two years or four years, if you graduate, or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country.
And you know more stories than I do, but I know of stories where people graduated from a top college or from a college and they desperately wanted to stay here. They had a plan for a company, a concept, and they can’t they go back to India, they go back to China. They do the same basic company in those places. And they become multi billionaires, employing thousands and thousands of people. And it could have been done here.
You need brilliant people. And we force the brilliant people, the people that graduate from college, the people that are number one in their class for the best colleges. You have to be able to recruit these people and keep the people it was such a big deal. Somebody graduates at the top of the class, they can’t even make a deal with the 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.”
Here is what you need to know
Immigration has been a cornerstone of Trump’s 2024 campaign. His latest proposal to offer green cards to potentially hundreds of thousands of foreign graduates represents a dramatic expansion of the U.S. immigration system. This approach contrasts sharply with his more common messages, which often emphasize restricting immigration.
Trump and his allies have typically distinguished between illegal and legal immigration. However, during his presidency, Trump also sought to limit legal immigration through measures such as curbing family-based visas and the visa lottery program. Shortly after taking office in 2017, he issued the “Buy American and Hire American” executive order, aiming to ensure business visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants to protect American workers.
A look at Trump’s past views
Previously, Trump criticized the H1-B visa program, commonly used by tech companies to hire foreign workers temporarily. Despite having utilized this program himself, he labeled it “very bad” and accused companies of using it to hire foreign workers at lower wages.
US has to attract best talent from around the world, suggests Trump
In the “All-In” interview, Trump blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for his administration’s failure to implement these immigration reforms. He shared stories of graduates from prestigious universities who wanted to stay in the U.S. but were forced to return to their home countries, specifically mentioning India and China. He said these individuals often become successful entrepreneurs, employing thousands of people in their home country. His point being that the US, to maintain its competitive edge, must attract the best talent from different countries.
“You need a pool of people to work for your company,” Trump said. “And they have to be smart people. Not everybody can be less than smart. You need brilliant people.” Trump’s proposal aims to tap into the pool of talented graduates from U.S. colleges, potentially boosting the country’s workforce and innovation.
Is Trump in favour of legal immigration or against it?
As the 2024 election approaches, his stance on immigration continues to evolve, reflecting broader economic and strategic considerations.
It isn’t exactly clear what Trump’s actual views on legal immigration are. Although he has pandered to his party’s base by frequently speaking out against legal immigration, he has also spoken in favour of legal immigration in the past. The tweet above from 2015 is a good example. Only time will tell if Trump actually does implement this policy, assuming he wins the election.
Many people in Trump’s base reacted rather negatively to Trump’s comments. However, this time around, unlike in 2020 and 2016, Trump has received significant amount of donations from the American tech community. It is will be interesting to observe how this new constituency impacts his policy choices. Although Trump didn’t mention this specifically, it is possible that this policy will be specifically targeted at students who pass out from American graduate schools with a doctorate in STEM fields.
It isn’t exactly clear if this will be a good thing for countries like India and China. Brain drain remains a serious issue. Remittances Indian expats send, doesn’t necessarily nullify the long term consequences of brain drain.
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