President Donald Trump has proposed a new immigration program that would sell green cards for $5 million each, referring to it as a "gold card." This proposal has sparked discussions among experts regarding its feasibility from both political and practical perspectives.
The proposed program would replace the existing EB-5 visa program, which was established by Congress in 1990. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the program allows foreign investors to obtain a two-year green card by investing $800,000 or $1.05 million in projects that create at least 10 new jobs.
Not surprisingly, the commercial real estate industry has expressed concern about the potential replacement of the EB-5 Visa. Many large developments, including New York's Hudson Yards, the San Francisco Shipyard, and Trump Plaza in Jersey City, have benefited from EB-5-related financing. The program's appeal to investors often allows developers to secure more favorable borrowing terms compared to commercial lenders.
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Last year, the initiative brought in approximately $4 billion, a small fraction of the $28 trillion U.S. economy. Matt Gordon, chief executive officer of E3iG, an advisor to foreign investment-based visa applicants and U.S. companies seeking funding, told The New York Times, "Cheap capital is the crack cocaine to the real estate industry and probably every other industry. They and their rather large political donations are going to be very motivated."
The implementation of the new program faces several challenges. For starters, passing such a program through the Senate could prove difficult if Democratic members oppose it, as it would require 60 votes to overcome a potential filibuster.
The proposal to direct government payments might be able to be included in a reconciliation bill, which only considers mandatory spending, revenue, and the federal debt limit. This approach might allow the measure to be incorporated into a larger finance bill.
However, practical concerns remain. As the Project for Immigration Reform wrote on X, "These cash for Green Cards schemes have never ended well and have been hotbeds for fraud, waste, and abuse."
President Trump has expressed optimism about the program's potential, stating, "We'll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards, maybe more than that. And if you add up the numbers, they're pretty good. As an example, a million cards would be worth $5 trillion dollars."
Yet, the program's appeal to potential buyers is uncertain. Forbes conducted a survey of 18 billionaires worldwide, finding that 13 would not be interested, three were unsure, and only two said they would "seriously consider buying one."
Immigration lawyer Matthew Galati commented on X that the program "makes no sense" due to its cost being five times higher than the current EB-5 visa without offering a monetary return on investment. He also noted that Trump's volume expectations may be unrealistic, stating, "the most EB-5 demand we saw in a single year was 15,000."
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