Former President of the United States, Donald Trump has promised that he would automatically grant green cards to foreign graduates of US colleges if re-elected as President.
This is an unexpected turn from the Republican known for his tough rhetoric on immigration, as reported by Aljazeera.
Trump made these remarks days after President Joe Biden announced a Green Card pathway for immigrants married to US nationals, counterbalancing his recent crackdown on illegal border crossings
A green card gives individuals the right to live and work permanently in the US and offers a pathway to citizenship.
During a podcast interview with Silicon Valley tech investors on Thursday, Trump promised to make it easier to bring talents to the US, and said anyone who graduates from a US college should be able to stay in the country.
“It’s so sad when we lose people from Harvard, MIT, the greatest schools, and lesser schools that are phenomenal schools also.
“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 told the All-In podcast.
The former president said this should include “anybody who graduates from a college,” including those who complete two-year programmes, known as junior colleges, and doctoral graduates.
When asked if he would help import the “best and the brightest around the world to America,” Trump replied, “I do promise.”
“I know of stories where people graduated from a top college, or from a college, and they desperately want to stay here… 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,” Trump said.
He also mentioned that US companies need “smart people,” adding, “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,” he pledged.
Trump’s proposal, which would create potentially hundreds of thousands of new citizenship applicants each year, marks a sharp departure from his hardline positions on immigration that propelled his rise within the Republican Party.
Trump, who once claimed migrants were “poisoning the blood of our country”, has pledged to undertake the largest deportation of undocumented migrants in US history if reelected in November and has repeatedly attacked his Democratic rival, President Joe Biden, as being soft on immigration.
During Trump’s 2017-2021 presidency, he ordered the construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border and implemented a travel ban on people from mostly Muslim countries.
His comments came after Democrat opponent Biden on Tuesday relaxed visa rules for around half a million spouses of US nationals, making it easier for them to obtain citizenship.
