Vice President JD Vance has sparked controversy with his recent statement that foreign students could face deportation if the U.S. government determines their stay is not in the country’s best interest.
Speaking in an interview on Fox News aired Thursday night, March 13, Vance clarified that this measure was part of a broader effort to tighten immigration policy under the Trump administration.
According to Vance, the U.S. will increase the deportation of foreign nationals, particularly those on student visas, as part of a larger crackdown on illegal immigration.
He further emphasized that deportation could apply even to individuals who entered the country legally but whose presence no longer aligns with the nation’s security and interests.
“This is not fundamentally about free speech, and to me, yes, it’s about national security, but it’s also more importantly about who we as an American public decide gets to join our national community,” Vance explained during the interview.
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The vice president noted that while the numbers are hard to predict, the focus will be on ensuring that foreign students in the U.S. are a benefit to the country.
“If the secretary of state and the president decide this person shouldn’t be in America, and they have no legal right to stay here, it’s as simple as that,” he added.
Vance’s remarks also touched on concerns about competition between foreign students and American-born students for spots in prestigious universities.
He claimed that foreign students, particularly those from wealthy backgrounds, often take spots that could otherwise go to American students, particularly those from middle-class or rural backgrounds.
“A lot of these foreign students, most of them, pay full freight,” Vance stated.
“So sometimes, you have well-qualified middle-class American kids from the heartland who don’t get a spot in these universities because some Chinese oligarch, who is paying $100,000 a year, takes up that spot.”
The vice president’s comments have ignited debates about immigration policy, national security, and the role of foreign students in American higher education.
