Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) was on campus Thursday to announce more than $2 million in FEMA aid for Binghamton University as reimbursement for the 2011 flood damages to the UDC. He stopped to answer some questions about national politics before he departed.

What are your thoughts on the latest executive orders concerning immigration?

“Any immigrant who has committed a serious crime, who might even be suspected of terrorism, should be deported immediately. But lots of the immigrants who may well be subjected to this order are people who just want to live here and be part of the American dream … Senator McCain and I have introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill which deals … very strongly with the border and really limits new illegal immigrants from not coming by, putting the onus on the employers not to hire them. But it provides a path to citizenship. It is a 10-year-long, arduous path, but it’s a fair path.”

What is your opinion on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch?

“The Supreme Court is one of the most important positions in the land, and that nominee should be thoroughly vetted. I know some of the partisan people want you to just say yes, no matter what, but that’s the wrong thing to do. The best barrier against [President Trump], the best check against him, is a strong Supreme Court. This nominee has to be thoroughly, thoroughly vetted, and I haven’t taken a position. I’ll wait to hear him in the hearings, but some of his initial answers trouble me.”

What is your opinion on the White House’s decision to reverse President Obama’s directive concerning transgender students?

“In America, we’ve always stood for equality. I think what the president did was a step back.”

Why do you think Republicans will soon stop cooperating with President Trump?

“When President Trump campaigned, he campaigned against both the Democrat and Republican establishments as sort of a populist. And I said to him, if he continued in that vein, he could get some really good things going, and I wouldn’t stand in the way just because the name Trump was on it. It would be our values that would determine. But thus far, in his cabinet choices and other things, he has moved way over to the right. One of his cabinet choices wants to end Medicare and raise the Social Security retirement age to 70. That is not something Trump was saying in his campaign. Another one of his Cabinet nominees, a nominee for the Department of Labor, who thank God has pulled his name out, said robots are better than workers. So, my view is that our mainstream Republican colleagues, if he continues on this path — which is so far out of the mainstream — for the next several months, they may join us in trying to work with us because the president is not fulfilling his campaign promises.”