Donald Trump has a history of throwing out an idea publicly to measure support, then pulling it back if needed.
Last week, during an interview, Trump made a suggestion about immigration that did not go over very well with his supporters, and now the Trump campaign is trying to walk it back.
Talking Points…
- Trump idea for migrant students
- Walking it back
- Analysis
I don't think most people realize this, but Donald Trump has a soft spot in his heart for some migrants, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. For those doing things the right way, Trump has no problem offering them a break, such as students coming into the country on student visas. To that point, during a recent interview, Trump suggested:
"[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. That includes junior colleges, too.
"Anybody graduates from a college, you go in there for two or four years, if you graduate, or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country."
As I noted above, Trump has often floated ideas to see the reaction, and the reaction to this was about as expected. The Biden campaign said it was an "empty promise," and MAGA went ballistic. I was not surprised at all by Trump's suggestion due to past comments. Remember, when Trump was president, at one point, he put amnesty for DACA recipients on the table as a way to end the program, but it was received similarly.
After the comments were made, the Trump campaign was asked to clarify Trump's remarks, but his spokesperson took a bit of a circuitous route on this. Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated:
"President Trump has made it clear that on day one of his new administration, he's going to shut down the border and launch the largest mass deportation effort of illegal aliens in history."
She also added that an "aggressive vetting process" would be put in place to exclude "all communists, radical Islamists, Hamas supporters, America haters, and public charges." That clearly meant to address comments by some questioning what degrees would qualify for the green card offer. For instance, Center for Immigration Studies Executive Director Mark Krikorian stated:
"If someone earns a Ph.D. at a university in a hard science, I personally will drive to their house and give them a green card.
"The issue is any foreign college graduate, even from a bogus two-year master's program or gender studies [major], would get a green card."
Other groups were concerned about the impact such a policy would have on wages for American workers. This led to the Trump campaign clarifying this potential policy a bit further, stating:
"[Trump] believes, only after such vetting has taken place, we ought to keep the most skilled graduates who can make significant contributions to America.
"This would only apply to the most thoroughly vetted college graduates who would never undercut American wages or workers."
I honestly like the adjusted version of the program, but those numbers would then have to be included in our government's yearly legal immigration cap. If they are doing things the right way and excel, why not reward them if they can positively contribute to our country?
My immigration issue has always been the same thing… we have our yearly caps for legal immigration, and they must be followed in order to control it. We cannot allow all these illegals to come into the country, then reward them for breaking the law, especially since many of them are tapping into entitlement programs that are funded by American taxpayer dollars. Trust me, student visas are not the problem in this country… Joe Biden's open borders plan are, however.
