As part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has canceled the student visas of many international students, including in Missouri.
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo. 5th District, told Missourinet that the move will be costly.
“There is a certain amount of money that comes into this country, hundreds of millions of dollars, as a result of these foreign students. So, if you don’t want to think about the morality of the issue, or the ethics of the issue, think about the money. This is going to reduce the amount of money that circulates in the United States,” he said.
According to Cleaver, young people have almost always been the ones to bring about world progress.
“I think we make a terrible, terrible mistake, we’re making that mistake right now, by going into the ranks of the colleges and universities and probably damaging our chances of benefiting from the study and work of these young people,” he said. “The world is large enough that we all can benefit by the brain power from these young people who probably have the cures for all kinds of diseases in their heads. The potential is out there to address many of our problems.”
Cleaver calls Trump’s thinking “militaristic” and cites former Italy Prime Minister Benito Mussolini having a similar move to “purify” the Italian nation.
“It is a foolish, foolish step for us to start trying to clean the college campuses of foreign students. I think it’s shallow thinking that has allowed the Trump Administration to convince Americans that somehow we were in danger because of all of these people coming to the United States and studying from around the globe,” said Cleaver.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department is revoking visas held by visitors who were acting counter to national interests, including some who protested Israel’s war in Gaza and those who face criminal charges. Rubio has terminated hundreds of visas under a provision that allows for revocation if a person’s presence in the U.S. “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
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