Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump’s former White House chief strategist, is opposed to former President Trump’s idea of offering green cards to international students who graduate from U.S. universities.
Bannon, a podcaster and ally of President Trump, spoke out strongly against immigration policy on Friday, arguing that students’ exit visas should be attached to their diplomas.
“People generally want to go back to where they come from, where their relatives are, and where their culture and society are,” Bannon said. Comments highlighted by Mediaite. “Yeah, I’ll host some select guys, I’ll train them, I’ll cheer on college football and do all that stuff. You look at the stands at college football games and you see the diversity, and that’s great. But then it’s time to go home.”
Bannon argued that international students should make their countries “great again” after graduating from American higher education institutions.
“Working for the country, [it] “We will become great again. That is the path that the nations of the Earth should take,” he said.
Appearing on the “All In” podcast on Thursday, President Trump said he believes college graduates should automatically receive a U.S. green card as part of their diploma “so that they can have a voice in this country.”
The idea marked a change of stance for the former president, who was elected on a promise to build a wall on the southern border during his first campaign.
His comments seem similar to those made by former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign, when she said certain STEM and PhD holders should be able to get green cards.
Bannon linked the green card issue to ongoing diplomatic problems, saying, “We cannot carry the world on our shoulders and continue to spend money on these forever wars in this international organization.” […] We want the nations of the earth to be great again.”
