Trump's green card proposal for college grads sparks controversy

ISTANBUL

President-elect Donald Trump's proposal to automatically grant green cards to foreign nationals who graduate from a US college has sparked controversy.

"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 in June.

On Friday, a video featuring those quotes from the interview went viral on X, where it was retweeted by Elon Musk, the billionaire who helped Trump win the election last month and seems to have the incoming president’s ear.

Musk — the owner of Tesla, the social media platform X, and SpaceX — has said skilled foreign workers are much needed in the US, especially in the tech industry.

The fresh online attention put Trump's stance on immigration and labor policies once again in the spotlight, reigniting debates that characterized his first presidency.

In the podcast, Trump added: "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."

Analysts said the initiative is designed to combat “brain drain,” strengthening the American workforce by making sure highly skilled people stay in the US after graduating from its schools.

Highlighting the economic benefits of retaining talent, Trump argued that the innovative contributions and entrepreneurial efforts of these graduates could drive significant growth in the US economy, leading to job creation and wealth generation, it added.

Fear of foreigners; foreigners in fear

But many Trump voters are opposed to incoming immigrants, arguing that they take jobs away from US citizens, which could lead to dissension among his supporters.

The proposal also made headlines even as many universities in the country have been advising their international students to return to the US early amid concerns that Trump may reinstate a travel ban on certain nations following his inauguration, now just weeks away.

CNN said many major universities, including New York University, which hosts the largest number of foreign students in the US, as well as Cornell University and the University of Southern California, have warned students about concerns over the coming second Trump administration.

Universities are urging international students, who are currently on winter break, to return to the US before the inauguration on Jan. 20, citing concerns that Trump may impose travel and visa restrictions during the transition period, it added.

International students typically hold nonimmigrant visas that permit them to study in the US, but the visas do not offer a legal means to remain in the country permanently.

Early in his first term, in 2017, Trump imposed restrictions on travel to the US from citizens of a number of countries — dubbed a “Muslim ban” — sparking outrage before courts overturned his moves.