While addressing the Senate on the highly debated immigration reform bill, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) had a proposal for the Gang of Eight.
“In my view, Mr. President, we should staple a green card to every diploma of every foreign student the moment they walk out of that — walk through that graduation line so they can bring their ideas and their creativity to our society,” he said.
Senators have gathered for the past week to discuss amendments to the reform bill, supported by the Gang of Eight senators — four Republicans and four Democrats. Though King was not offering an amendment while speaking on the Senate floor, he did say that students attending college on a student visa should be allowed to remain in the United States after receiving their diploma.
King’s comments come on the heels of the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the immigration reform bill, released Tuesday.
According to the CBO, there are more than 8 million illegal immigrants in the country, and if passed, the bill would swell the population to include 10.4 million more people by 2023.
And King’s comments stand contrary to an amendment posed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), which was defeated. Paul’s amendment, called Trust but Verify, would track student visas in an effort to prevent attacks such as the Sept. 11 and Boston bombing terror attacks.
Suspects in both were suspected of entering — and remaining in — the United States through student visas.
Check out King’s comments below:
