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Trump Says Foreigners Who Graduate from US Colleges Should Get Green Cards

Former US President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan Supreme Court on the 6th day of the hush money trial against him on April 23 2024. Curtis Means/Pool via REUTERS
Former US President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan Supreme Court on the 6th day of the hush money trial against him on April 23 2024. Curtis Means/Pool via REUTERS
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Trump Says Foreigners Who Graduate from US Colleges Should Get Green Cards

Former US President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan Supreme Court on the 6th day of the hush money trial against him on April 23 2024. Curtis Means/Pool via REUTERS
Former US President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan Supreme Court on the 6th day of the hush money trial against him on April 23 2024. Curtis Means/Pool via REUTERS

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in a podcast released on Thursday said that students graduating from US colleges should get a green card to stay in the country, a proposal that runs counter to his hardline immigration stance.

During the All-In podcast hosted by Silicon Valley tech investors, angel investor Jason Calacanis told Trump that the US needs to be able to legally retain more high-skilled workers, a major issue for the tech industry.

"Can you please promise us you will give us more ability to import the best and brightest around the world to America?" Calacanis said.

"I do promise," Trump said. "But I happen to agree, otherwise I wouldn't promise... 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."

A green card, also known as a permanent resident card, allows individuals the right to live and work permanently in the United States and is a step towards citizenship, according to Reuters.

It was not clear if Trump was referring to all foreigners, including those who came to the United States illegally or overstayed their visas, or only those people on student visas.

Asked for comment, the Trump campaign said in a statement that only after "the most aggressive vetting process in US history" would "the most skilled graduates who can make significant contributions to America" be able to stay.

One immigration advocate was not convinced by Trump's proposal.

"I almost have to laugh because his administration adopted multiple policies aiming to restrict student visas and make it harder for people to stay in the country after graduating," said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council.

During his 2017-2021 presidency, Trump's administration took steps aimed at curbing US companies' use of skilled foreign workers on H-1B visas, a key visa option for international students seeking to remain in the United States.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration tried to force tens of thousands of foreign students to leave the country if their schools held all classes online. Faced with lawsuits and strong opposition from colleges and universities, the administration later rescinded the order.

Trump has vowed a wide-ranging crackdown if reelected in the November election against Democrat Joe Biden, and has lambasted Biden's efforts to curb the record number of migrants crossing into the US illegally.

Two of the All-In hosts, venture capitalists David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, hosted a swanky fundraiser for Trump in San Francisco earlier this month, raising some $12 million for his campaign.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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World

Ukraine Strikes Ballistic Missile Producer Deep Inside Russia, Kyiv Says

Ukrainian firefighters work at the scene of a recent multiple Russian drone strike on a gas station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, 09 February 2026. (EPA)
Ukrainian firefighters work at the scene of a recent multiple Russian drone strike on a gas station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, 09 February 2026. (EPA)
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Ukraine Strikes Ballistic Missile Producer Deep Inside Russia, Kyiv Says

Ukrainian firefighters work at the scene of a recent multiple Russian drone strike on a gas station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, 09 February 2026. (EPA)
Ukrainian firefighters work at the scene of a recent multiple Russian drone strike on a gas station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, 09 February 2026. (EPA)

Ukraine hit a Russian plant manufacturing ballistic missiles in a missile strike in the remote Udmurtia region, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday.

Ukraine said its forces attacked the plant manufacturing Russian missiles, including the short-range Iskander and intercontinental Topol-M, in Votkinsk, east of Moscow and about 1,400 km (800 miles) from Ukraine.

It said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that the Ukrainian forces used ‌domestically produced ground-launched ‌Flamingo cruise missiles. The attack caused ‌a fire ⁠on the site, ⁠the Ukrainian military said.

Alexander Brechalov, the governor of the Udmurtia region in Russia, had earlier said a site there had been attacked overnight with drones.

"There has been damage and injuries as a result," Brechalov said in a video posted on the Telegram ⁠app. He provided no other details.

The airport ‌in Udmurtia's main city, ‌Izhevsk, and those in cities in nearby regions suspended ‌operations, the civil aviation authority Rosaviatsiya said.

The unofficial Russian ‌Telegram channel SHOT, which often quotes contacts in the security services, said residents in Votkinsk reported hearing at least three explosions and the humming of drones.

Russia uses its ballistic ‌missiles to reinforce its drone attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure, knocking out electricity ⁠and heating ⁠supplies for millions across Ukraine during the cold winter months.

Ukraine is increasingly targeting military and energy infrastructure deep inside Russia. Kyiv says that hitting the weapons producers and the energy system that fuels Russia's military is the best way to gain leverage over its bigger enemy as the war enters its fifth year next week.

The Ukrainian military said it also hit a gas processing plant in the Russian Samara region. Russian officials in the Samara region issued no report of such an attack.

World

Iranian Students Chant Anti-Government Slogans, as US Threats Loom

This video grab taken from UGC images posted on social media and verified by AFPTV teams in Paris on February 21, 2026, shows Iranians clashing near the Department of Aerospace Engineering of Sharif University in Tehran. (UGC / AFP)
This video grab taken from UGC images posted on social media and verified by AFPTV teams in Paris on February 21, 2026, shows Iranians clashing near the Department of Aerospace Engineering of Sharif University in Tehran. (UGC / AFP)
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Iranian Students Chant Anti-Government Slogans, as US Threats Loom

This video grab taken from UGC images posted on social media and verified by AFPTV teams in Paris on February 21, 2026, shows Iranians clashing near the Department of Aerospace Engineering of Sharif University in Tehran. (UGC / AFP)
This video grab taken from UGC images posted on social media and verified by AFPTV teams in Paris on February 21, 2026, shows Iranians clashing near the Department of Aerospace Engineering of Sharif University in Tehran. (UGC / AFP)

Iranian students chanted anti-government slogans and scuffled with counter-protesters on Saturday in the latest display of anger at the country's clerical leaders, who also face a US military build-up aimed at pressuring them into a nuclear deal.

The gatherings at universities, which were reported by both local and diaspora media outlets, followed a mass protest movement that was met with a government crackdown last month that left thousands dead.

The crackdown had prompted US President Donald Trump to threaten to intervene militarily, though the focus of his threats eventually shifted to Iran's nuclear program, which Western governments fear is aimed at producing a bomb.

The US and Iran recently resumed Oman-mediated talks aimed at securing a deal, but Washington has simultaneously increased its military presence in the region, dispatching two aircraft carriers, jets and weaponry to back its warnings.

Videos geolocated by AFP to Tehran's top engineering university showed fights breaking out in a crowd on Saturday as people shouted "bi sharaf", or "disgraceful" in Farsi.

Footage posted by the Persian-language TV channel Iran International, which is based outside the country, also showed a large crowd chanting anti-government slogans at Sharif University of Technology.

Iranians had reprised their protest slogans earlier this week to mark the 40th day since thousands of people were killed as a wave of demonstrations was peaking on January 8 and 9.

They gathered again at several universities in the capital on Saturday, local media reported.

The unrest first broke out in December over prolonged financial strain, but exploded into mass anti-government demonstrations that were suppressed in a violent crackdown by security forces.

The clerical authorities acknowledge more than 3,000 deaths, but say the violence was caused by "terrorist acts" fueled by Iran's enemies.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), however, has recorded more than 7,000 killings in the crackdown, the vast majority protesters, though the toll may be far higher.

Iranian authorities had initially acknowledged the legitimacy of the protesters' economic demands, but as the movement took on an overtly anti-government tone, they accused archenemies the United States and Israel of whipping up "riots".

Local news outlet Fars said that what was supposed to be a "silent and peaceful sit-in" on Saturday of students commemorating those killed was disrupted by people chanting slogans including "death to the dictator" -- a reference to Iran's supreme leader.

A video posted by Fars showed a group chanting and waving Iranian flags facing off with a crowd wearing masks and being held back by men in suits.

Both groups were holding what appeared to be memorial photographs.

- Talks and threats -

Ever since the initial wave of protests, the United States and Iran have been trading threats of military action.

Trump sent the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the region, accompanied by a flotilla of 12 support ships, while a second carrier group attached to the USS Gerald R Ford is en route to the area via the Mediterranean.

The US has also redeployed dozens of other warplanes to the Middle East -- where it maintains several bases -- while boosting its land-based air defenses.

The build-up is aimed at pressuring Iran's authorities to cut a deal on the country's nuclear program, even as the two sides have pursued talks on the subject.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told US media this week that following the latest round of negotiations in Geneva, Iran would be submitting a draft proposal for an agreement, saying "in the next two, three days, that would be ready".

Araghchi also said the "US side has not asked for zero enrichment" of uranium, contradicting statements from American officials.

Trump had suggested on Thursday that "bad things" would happen if Tehran did not strike a deal within 10 days, a period which he subsequently extended to 15.

Iran denies it is trying to produce nuclear weapons and says its program is peaceful, but insists on its right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.

The US media outlet Axios reported this week, citing an unnamed senior US official, that the US was prepared to consider a proposed deal that only permitted "small, token enrichment".

A previous round of nuclear diplomacy between the US and Iran last year was interrupted by Israel's surprise bombing campaign against country.

The United States ultimately joined its ally, striking key nuclear facilities before declaring a ceasefire.

World

Macron Urges 'Calm' ahead of Tense Rally for Slain Far-right Activist

French police secure the area after a bomb threat at the headquarters of France's hard-left party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed - LFI) and its evacuation in Paris, France, February 18, 2026. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
French police secure the area after a bomb threat at the headquarters of France's hard-left party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed - LFI) and its evacuation in Paris, France, February 18, 2026. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
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Macron Urges 'Calm' ahead of Tense Rally for Slain Far-right Activist

French police secure the area after a bomb threat at the headquarters of France's hard-left party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed - LFI) and its evacuation in Paris, France, February 18, 2026. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
French police secure the area after a bomb threat at the headquarters of France's hard-left party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed - LFI) and its evacuation in Paris, France, February 18, 2026. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier

French President Emmanuel Macron appealed on Saturday for cooler heads to prevail ahead of a rally for a far-right activist whose killing, blamed on the hard left, has put the country on edge.

Macron also said his government would hold a meeting next week to discuss "violent action groups" in the wake of the fatal beating of Quentin Deranque, which has ignited tensions between the left and right ahead of the 2027 presidential vote.

The 23-year-old died from head injuries following clashes between radical left and far-right supporters on the sidelines of a demonstration against a politician from the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) party in the southeastern city of Lyon last week.

A rally, widely publicized online by ultra-nationalist and far-right groups, is expected to be attended by 2,000 to 3,000 people, with the authorities fearing further clashes with left-wing protesters.

Speaking at a farming trade fair in Paris, Macron urged "everyone to remain" calm ahead of the rally for Deranque in Lyon, which is set to go ahead under high security later on Saturday despite Lyon's left-wing green mayor asking the state to ban it.

"In the Republic, no violence is legitimate," said Macron, who will be unable to contest next year's election after hitting the two-term limit. "There is no place for militias, no matter where they come from."

- 'Over 1,000 neo-Nazis' -

Ahead of the Lyon rally, some residents living near the march's planned route had barricaded the ground floor windows of their apartments, fearing unrest.

"At my age, I'm not going to play the tough guy. If I have to go out somewhere, I'll avoid the places where they're marching," said Lyon local Jean Echeverria, 87.

"They'll just keep fighting each other, it'll never end. Between the extreme of this and the extreme of that, it's non-stop," he added.

Two friends of Deranque's were behind the official call to march in his honor.

But according to the Deranque family's lawyer, Fabien Rajon, his parents will not take part in the rally, which they have urged to go ahead "without violence" and "without political statements".

Several ultra-right-wing groups, including Deranque's nationalist Allobroges Bourgoin faction, have nonetheless heavily publicized the march on social media.

The authorities fear that far-right and hard-left activists from elsewhere in Europe might travel to France for the event, stoking concerns of further unrest.

Jordan Bardella, the head of the anti-immigration National Rally (RN) party -- which senses its best chance ever of scoring the presidency in next year's vote -- has urged supporters not to go.

"We ask you, except in very specific and strictly supervised local situations not to attend these gatherings nor to associate the National Rally with them," he wrote in a message sent to party officials and seen by AFP.

LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard backed the Lyon mayor's call for a ban, warning on X that the march would be a "fascist demonstration" which "over 1,000 neo-Nazis from all over Europe" were expected to attend.

But Interior Minister Laurent Nunez declined to ban the rally, arguing that he had to "strike a balance between maintaining public order and freedom of expression" and pledging an "extremely large police deployment".

- 'Wound' -

Deranque's death has provoked a reaction from US President Donald Trump's administration, with state department official Sarah Rogers on Friday branding the killing "terrorism" and claiming that "violent radical leftism is on the rise".

Likewise, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday called Deranque's death "a wound for all Europe", prompting Macron to urge the far-right leader to stay out of French matters.

Six men suspected of involvement in the fatal assault have been charged over the killing, while a parliamentary assistant to a radical left-wing MP has also been charged with complicity.

A far-right collective called Nemesis, which claims to "defend Western women" from the violence allegedly wrought by immigrants, said Deranque had been at the protest in Lyon to protect its members when he was assaulted by "anti-fascist" activists.

Having urged both the far right and hard left to clean up their acts, Macron said his administration would hold a meeting next week "take stock of violent action groups which are active and have links with political parties of any description".