Former President Donald Trump announced in an interview posted on Thursday that he intends to grant automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges. This policy change, which includes graduates from both junior and four-year colleges, would mark a significant expansion of America’s immigration system, diverging sharply from his usual campaign messages regarding foreigners.
Speaking on the “All-In” podcast with venture capitalists and tech investors, Trump stated, “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 who graduates from a college. You go there for two years or four years.” He vowed to address this issue on his first day back in office if re-elected.
Immigration has been a central issue in Trump’s 2024 bid to return to the White House. His new proposal to offer green cards—documents that provide a pathway to U.S. citizenship—to potentially hundreds of thousands of foreign graduates represents a substantial policy shift. Previously, Trump has often blamed illegal immigrants for committing crimes, taking jobs, and using government resources, even suggesting they are “poisoning the blood of our country.” He has pledged to execute the largest deportation operation in U.S. history if elected again.
Despite this proposed policy for foreign graduates, Trump and his allies claim to distinguish between illegal and legal immigration. However, during his administration, Trump also suggested curbing legal immigration by restricting family-based visas and the visa lottery program. In 2017, he issued the “Buy American and Hire American” executive order, directing reforms to ensure business visas were awarded only to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants, aiming to protect American workers.
Trump has previously criticized the H1-B visa program, commonly used by companies to hire foreign workers temporarily, calling it “very bad” and alleging that tech companies use it to hire foreign workers at lower wages. During the “All-In” podcast, Trump attributed his failure to implement more restrictive immigration measures during his presidency to the coronavirus pandemic. He shared anecdotes of graduates from top colleges who, unable to secure visas, were forced to return to their home countries, naming India and China specifically. According to Trump, these individuals often become multibillionaires and employers of thousands.
“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 for automatic green cards to foreign graduates could signal a significant policy shift, potentially broadening the scope of America’s immigration system and impacting the tech industry and higher education sector. The proposal, if enacted, could transform the landscape of U.S. immigration policy and its approach to foreign talent.