Monday on CNN’s “News Central,” Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) said it made “no sense” President Donald Trump was threatening foreign students because they are an “extraordinary asset.”
Discussing the president’s social media post, host Sara Sidner said, “He says we are still waiting for the foreign students list from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of billions of dollars, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all should not be let back into our country. He’s calling these students potential lunatics and troublemakers, literally some of the most intelligent young people in our midst. I’m just curious as to what your reaction is to hearing this this morning?”
Quigley said, “I attended the University of Chicago, still teach a class there. I see firsthand the asset that these major universities are. They are the envy of the world, and the research they do and the education they provide make us stronger economically, socially, culturally, and politically, and to threaten them this way makes no sense. Those foreign students are an extraordinary asset. They add to the economic, academic diversity and strength of the universities, and they add to the cultural exchange that’s extremely important. So we can’t destroy this system that is so valuable to us. Again, the envy of the world.”
He added, “And there is a visa program for students in which these students — that’s the process that’s already in place to make sure we’re not bringing anyone who might be dangerous. But the final analysis, they’re an asset to these universities and to our country and the rest of the world.”
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