After World War II, right-wing Republicans— led by the notorious Dulles brothers— imported tens of thousands of Eastern European Nazis and settled them in Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin… Today, the children and grandchildren of those unrepentant Nazi collaborators are part of the bedrock of the Republican Party in those states. Trump has a similar— but by no means original— idea: flooding the country with corrupt, rich criminal types branded “investors.”
Thursday, CNBC reported some updates on Señor T’s “gold card visa,” which offers residency, expedited citizenship and a big fat tax loophole in return for a $5 million payment. “Trump said gold-card holders would not be subject to taxes on their overseas income,” wrote Robert Frank. “The provision means that gold-card residents will be able to purchase a tax benefit not available to U.S. citizens. Advisors say they’re waiting on clearer directives, since the program could create dual classes of taxpayers among the American wealthy. Yet the international income carve-out makes it far more attractive to the world’s ultra-wealthy. ‘This would be a big departure’ in tax treatment, said Laura Foote Reiff, an attorney at Greenberg Traurig who specializes in business immigration. ‘There are many wealthy individuals who are invested in U.S. companies or have families here that do not become permanent residents because they don’t want the tax consequences.’ The tax loophole is one reason the government can charge a premium for the gold card. At $5 million, the program would be among the most expensive in the world. Volek said Singapore’s Global Investor Program requires an investment of 10 million Singapore dollars, or about $7.5 million. New Zealand’s most expensive program requires an investment of up to 10 million New Zealand dollars, or about $5.7 million… At Wednesday’s news conference, Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the U.S. gold card would replace the current investment visa program, called EB-5, which offers green cards to those who invest at least $900,000 or $1.8 million, depending on the area and project. The EB-5 program been plagued by delays and a history of fraud and abuse. The program was renewed by Congress in 2022 with major changes that required the investments to be channeled to more rural, poor areas and to infrastructure projects. When it comes to applicants, China has been far and away the largest source of those seeking EB-5 visas… The U.S. issued just more than 12,000 EB-5 visas last year, with two-thirds going to Chinese nationals, according to the State Department.”
Trump says he wants to bring in a million people and their families with that card, very similar to what the Dulles brothers (and Nixon) did with their program to populate certain states with Nazis who they saw as future GOP voters.
Many countries offer citizenship or residency to wealthy foreigners through citizenship-by-investment or residency-by-investment programs (like Trump’s “brainchild,” called “golden visas”). The citizenship-by-investment programs grant passports in exchange for a donation or investment. Some examples (and remember, if you buy into a program in any EU country, you’re a citizen of the whole EU):
Malta— $650,000 donation to the government fund ($810,000 for a faster process), plus $10,800 charitable donation and a property purchase or lease.
St. Kitts & Nevis— $250,000 donation to the Sustainable Island State Contribution (SISC) or $400,000 real estate investment.
Grenada— $150,000 donation or $220,000 real estate investment.
Turkey— $400,000 real estate investment or $500,000 bank deposit.
Residency-by-Investment Golden Visa Programs are often a path top citizenship but not automatic citizenship. Examples:
Portugal— $540,000 real estate purchase ($300,000 in low-density areas) or $540,000 investment in a business.
Spain— $540,000 real estate investment.
Greece— $270,000 real estate investment (rising to $540,000 in prime locations).
Italy— $270,000 investment in startups or $540,000 in Italian businesses.
Ireland— $1.1 million investment in Irish enterprises or $540,000 donation to public projects.
United Arab Emirates (UAE)— $545,000 property investment for a 10-year Golden Visa.
United Kingdom (closed as of 2022)– Previously required a $2.55 million investment in return for residency and a 5-6 year path to citizenship. Higher investments accelerated permanent residency— for $6.4 million it came in 3 years and for $12.8 million you’d get it in just 2 years. It was basically a money-laundering operation for the Russia mafia, among the fine folks Trump’s trying to attract.
Previous to Trump’s announcement the U.S. was still making it easier for global elites to skip the line. The EB-5 Visa (Residency-by-Investment) requires an $800,000 investment in a “Targeted Employment Area” (rural or high-unemployment zones) or $1.05 million in other projects, creating at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers in return for a Green Card (permanent residency) for the investor and his or her immediate family, including a 5-year path to citizenship. There was also an alternative program (E-2 Investor Visa) for citizens of treaty countries like Canada, Japan and the U.K., although it offered no direct path to citizenship.
The EB-5 program was created in 1990 by Senator Ted Kennedy and President George H.W. Bush with broad bipartisan support in Congress. It was billed as a way to stimulate economic growth, though Republicans favored it as a way to attract wealthy businesspeople to the U.S. In 2019, under Trump, the minimum EB-5 investment was increased from $500,000 to $900,000 in Targeted Employment Areas. Biden lowered the threshold to $800,000 in 2022 with bipartisan support while adding the stronger fraud protections Trump opposes, and reserving more visas for rural investments.
Over the years, the EB-5 program has funneled billions of dollars into the U.S. economy, with some states benefiting far more than others. The biggest winners tend to be states with large urban developments and strong real estate markets. New York luxury real estate (Trump’s own industry) was the top beneficiary. Other states that benefitted most include California (disastrous real estate speculation and Big Tech, overwhelmingly from China), Florida (condos, hotels and resorts, Latin American and Chinese investors attracted by the state’s policy of no income tax), Texas (energy, real estate and manufacturing), the Seattle area of Washington (tech and more disastrous real estate speculation, the Chicago area of Illinois (real estate and commercial development) and Nevada (casinos, hotels and entertainment venues.
Foreign investors were encouraged to put money into rural areas by Congress but that was largely a bust, with states like Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas attracting virtually no EB-5 money. Backward Southern states, especially Alabama and Mississippi, have tried to attract EB-5 investors for manufacturing and infrastructure but foreigners are largely put off by the endemic racism and xenophobia in the area.
It’s worth noting that over 80% of the participants have been from China but in recent years, wealthy criminals from India, Vietnam, Brazil and South Korea have also stepped up to the plate. Trump expects to attract more Russians as well.