President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that he’s “always been in favor” of allowing Chinese students to come to the United States, noting there are 500,000 students coming in from China.
“I think it’s a great thing,” Trump said. “It’s also good for our schools. It’s good for our country. I’m also in favor of having them stay.”
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However, Trump said allowing foreign students into the U.S. means that officials may have to “watch them” to preserve national security.
Trump’s comments come just weeks after the State Department revealed a new policy in which the department partnered with the Department of Homeland Security to “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students.”
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” the May 28 declaration stated. “We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.”
Trump also shared with reporters that his administration will work to make it easier for foreign nationals to work in the U.S., noting that after graduating from U.S. universities, they leave and start companies in their home countries.
“I’m all for making sure that people like that can go to work for all of our great companies,” Trump said. “You know what they do? They go back to their country and they start a company just like they were going to start here, and now they’re among the richest people in the world. They’ve got thousands of thousands of employees that make it great. This is happening all the time because they’re not allowed to stay.”
Also on Thursday, the Trump administration launched its website for the $5 million “gold card” visa that will provide foreign nationals a pathway to citizenship, an idea he first proposed in February.