President Donald Trump has announced that he wants to sell "gold cards" to wealthy foreigners, looking to receive a visa in exchange for $5 million. President Tump said "You have a green card. This is a gold card." The Presidents initial estimation suggests that millions of cards will be sold. When questioned about who would be allowed to buy this gold cards, Trump was asked about Russian Oligarchs in which he said he knows some Russian Oligarchs that are really nice people.
The idea is not new as the United States currently has an EB-5 immigrant investor visa program, which allows foreign investors to contribute to American projects in exchange for the ability to apply for a US visa. Interestingly, President Trump and his businesses have taken advantage of this program to fund major property developments.
The EB-5 program was created in 1992 and grants green cards to immigrants who make a minimum investment of $1.05 million, or $800,000 in economically distressed zones. In 2019, the Trump administration tried to raise these requirements but it was struck down by a federal judge. Eventually, the Biden Administration revisited the requirements in 2022.
The end goal of the new gold card is unclear as it quickly received bipartisan criticism. Both sides mentioned that this new program either deviates from the administrations goals or needs heavy reform.
3 comments:
The notion of selling visas or green cards to wealthy individuals further emphasizes the divide between the financial elite and ordinary citizens. It could disturb the idea that wealth is the primary or even the sole criterion for gaining access to the benefits of a country. Critics argue that this could undermine the principles of fairness and merit in the immigration system. Wealthy people could overshadow individuals seeking a better life through hard work or humanitarian reasons. Society thinks Russia's influence and wealth could fuel concerns about foreign money influencing American politics and society. For example, it suggests the potential for undue influence by foreign nationals in exchange for a pathway to American citizenship. It is a way to attract global capital and support American businesses. However, this program's effectiveness in benefiting the broader American economy is questionable. Moreover, many of these investors might not even live in the United States or contribute meaningfully to the workforce, instead using the country as a taxable place. Finally, it is likely that any proposal to implement such a program would face significant hurdles and could require substantial revisions before it could move forward.
When I watched his statement on this announcement I thought it was interesting when he said something along the lines about how great this will be because it will bring in wealthy individuals that will pay more taxes. I wonder if this energy will be directed towards the domestic population.
Very insightful recap. Realistically speaking, how many people actually have $5 million laying around who additionally want American citizenship? While I think this new policy is definitely problematic because of the way it was introduced, I don’t think this will have as big of an impact on our market as others are projecting it to be. Additionally, it is definitely interesting to see what new policies President Trump is choosing to promote now that he is in office.
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