Ken Griffin: Foreign students in the United States should get a visa when they graduate

The founder and CEO of Citadel, Ken Griffin, said that foreign students in the United States should receive visas when they are graduates from universities.

“The key is that they have to stay here,” Griffin said at the Milken Institute World Conference on Wednesday. “Okay, that’s the key, and we don’t do enough to make access to the stay in America, either easy or preferred for so many of these students.”

“It should literally be if you graduate from one of the major American universities, large higher schools, you should simply get a visa stamp for your diploma,” added Griffin.

Griffin’s suggestion is similar to what President Donald Trump had offered when he was on the campaign path last year. Trump said foreign students should receive a permanent residence after graduating in American colleges.

“What I want to do and what I am going to do is that you get a college diploma, I think you should automatically get a green card as part of your diploma to be able to stay in this country, and that also includes junior colleges,” said Trump in an episode of the “All-In” podcast “that was broadcast in June.

This is not the first time that Griffin has called for the Trump administration to keep the United States open to the best and most brilliant in the world.

In November, Griffin spoke to the New York Economic Club, where he said that even if the South-South borders were to be obtained, the country also had to have a “thoughtful” immigration policy.

“I would like to see Washington now execute an immigration policy that is thoughtful, which protects the great stature of this nation in the world of being the country you come to continue your dreams,” said Griffin.

During his first term, Trump targeted H-1B visa programwhich is granted to qualified foreign workers in the United States. In June 2020, in the middle of the COVVI-19 pandemic, the president ordered a freeze on several visa programsincluding H-1B.

The H-1B Visa program is popular with technological companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and Meta. In the United States, up to 85,000 foreign workers are hired each year as part of the H-1B program.

But in December, Trump told the New York Post that he supported the H-1B Visa program, adding that he “always liked the visas”.

“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I believed in H-1B. I used it several times. It’s an excellent program,” said Trump.

Griffin’s representatives in Citadel did not respond to a request for comments to Business Insider.