The point is that status is low and working conditions poor and you're not respected - see the lack of American STEM grad students who realize they are basically pawns of the profs and administration who just listen to the lawyers and undergrads who pay the bills (outside of top research institutions)
All my groupmates were and most of my doctoral committee are from Russia/Ukraine (the remaining member will be from China) but only one has non-North American (USSR) PhD
Stop being so pedantic about this and take it from an American perspective. The amount of grad students in my school's department from Europe is very low, and the amount of American grad students is also very low. That's what he's trying to get at here.