President Trump announced Tuesday the upcoming sale of a $5 million “gold card,” presenting it as a new, superior pathway to U.S. citizenship.
“It’s like the green card, but better and more sophisticated,” Trump stated, emphasizing the tax obligations of these new citizens.
Trump described the initiative as a way for successful, job-creating individuals worldwide to essentially purchase U.S. citizenship.
The plan also aims to facilitate permanent residency for wealthy students.
While Trump has previously promoted the idea of attracting wealthy individuals to the U.S., this announcement comes amid stricter immigration policies and growing concerns about university costs and student debt.
Trump indicated last week that the new visa option should be available in the coming weeks.
Details remain scarce, but Trump framed it as part of a broader effort to overhaul U.S. immigration policies.
Following the initial announcement, Lora Ries of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, cautioned against potential fraud.
“Any immigration benefit draws fraud … people are willing to do anything and say just about anything to come to the U.S.,” Ries told Digital.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in an interview with Chief Political Anchor Bret Baier on “Special Report” last week, assured that candidates would undergo thorough vetting.
Lutnick told Baier, “These are vetted people. These are going to be great global citizens who are going to bring entrepreneurial spirit, capacity and growth to America. If one of them comes in, think of the jobs they are going to bring with them, the businesses they are going to bring with them, and they are going to pay American taxes as well, so this is huge money for America.”
Ries acknowledged the program’s objectives but questioned the ability to adequately vet all applicants, drawing parallels to fraud issues within the existing EB-5 program, which the gold card is intended to replace.
“Fraud is rarely detected, let alone enforced … so it’s low risk, high reward to commit immigration benefit fraud,” Ries stated, highlighting Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s own admission of widespread fraud in the EB-5 program.
“So the question is: How is this going to be different,” Ries said. “It raised the price from a million to 5 million, but how are we going to prevent the fraud? Are you just inviting wealthier fraudsters and corrupt people to exploit this?”
“`