OKLAHOMA CITY: An Oklahoma U.S. senator said some immigrants who finish their education in the country should be allowed to stay and work.
Republican U.S. Sen. James Lankford told the Downtown Club of Oklahoma City that he doesn’t expect to see any progress on immigration policy in the next 18 months, The Journal Record reported. He said crafting an immigration law will be about the numbers, deciding who should go and who can remain.
“People who graduate with a terminal degree should be able to stay here and work,” he said. “I’d like to be able to steal every smart person out of China we can possibly get, because I want to continue to beat them economically.”
But he added that students who come to the U.S. for school should also consider returning to their home to help improve their own country with their new skills and knowledge. Lankford said he’s hoping the next president, whether Republican or Democrat, will work with Congress on the issue of immigration.
In an election year, especially a presidential election year, Lankford said it’s hard to get anything passed on Capitol Hill. -PTI
