{"id":17049,"date":"2018-05-09T16:30:01","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T20:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=17049"},"modified":"2018-12-28T10:30:01","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T15:30:01","slug":"cash-visas-scheme-draws-new-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2018\/05\/09\/cash-visas-scheme-draws-new-interest\/","title":{"rendered":"Cash-For-Visas Scheme Draws New Interest"},"content":{"rendered":"

America\u2019s troubled cash-for-visas program is attracting a surge of applicants from India<\/a>. That won\u2019t make it any better.<\/p>\n

Applications from India for\u00a0the EB-5 program\u00a0<\/a>— which issues green cards to foreign investors (and their families) who pay $500,000 and create 10 jobs in the United States \u2013 are rising in response to the Trump administration\u2019s crackdown on abuses in the H-1B skilled-worker visa program<\/a> heavily used by Indian nationals.<\/p>\n

“EB-5 is the quickest and most affordable option for many Indians,” said Brian Ostar of EB5 Capital, a private firm that serves foreign investors.<\/p>\n

Long used by wealthy Chinese nationals<\/a>, EB-5 has well-documented problems of its own.<\/p>\n

Contrary to its original intent of spurring investment and creating jobs in America\u2019s depressed rural backwaters, EB-5 funnels most of the money to wealthy urban centers. Among the notable practitioners, Jared Kushner, President Trump\u2019s son in law, raised $50 million through EB-5 for one of his luxury apartment complexes.<\/p>\n

Such projects are facilitated by creative gerrymandering of Census tracts<\/a>. In the process, the $1 million investor buy-in that would otherwise be required for a green card is cut in half to $500,000.<\/p>\n

Weak disclosure rules have enabled abuse and fraud<\/a> to plague the program. Relevant employment data remain sketchy at best. Critics, led by Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., say EB-5 effectively sells citizenship to rich immigrants who can\u2019t get into the country through other immigration channels.<\/p>\n

“They get cheap money for their projects and the public has no clue whether it’s generating economic benefits for America,” says Michael Gibson, managing director USAdvisors<\/a>, which analyzes EB-5 projects.<\/p>\n

With little oversight or public accountability by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is ostensibly responsible for oversight, private EB-5 \u201cfinders\u201d and regional centers are opening recruitment offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. Indian EB-5 applications are on track to at least double annually for the next several years, surpassing South Korea, Vietnam and Brazil.<\/p>\n

The EB-5 industry is bullish about its new foreign-investor prospects, but in the absence of fundamental reforms the tarnished \u201cgolden visas\u201d will bring more trouble to America\u2019s shores.<\/p>\n

Launched as a \u201cpilot\u201d project more than 25 years ago, the program has lurched out of control. Ignoring the danger signs, Congress simply kicks the can down the road with repeated extensions.<\/p>\n

\u201cEB-5 is too flawed to continue,\u201d Grassley concludes, listing 20 systemic problems ranging from rubberstamping bureaucrats to national security threats<\/a>. It\u2019s time to clean it up or shut it down.