President Donald Trump said his administration will properly screen anyone who purchases one of his proposed $5 million “gold card” visas to replace the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program.
Trump came up with the idea in an oval office in late February as a way for immigrants to acquire green card privileges. It is now being marketed as a route to US citizenship and as a way to repay citizen debt.
“Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked the president in an interview.”Ingraham's angle“It aired on Wednesday, and how much can American citizenship be purchased?
President Donald J. Trump has signed an executive order on deregulation and will speak to Secretary of Home Affairs Doug Burgham and his wife Kathryn on Friday, January 31, 2025 at the White House oval office in Washington, D.C. (Washington Post via Javin Botsford/Getty Images)
“I'm America's first,” he replied. “Because for $5 million, you're getting a lot.”
National debt is about to hit a scary number no matter what we do
Trump suggested that the US could sell 1 million gold cards to wealthy immigrants at a price of $5 million each.
The $5 trillion revenue will be directed entirely towards fully repaying approximately $36 trillion in national debt, he said.
Ingraham forced Trump whether such incentives would allow “unpleasant” people to come to the country.
The 47th president said he was worried about who will be able to take part in the new Gold Card Program, but he vowed to have strict screening procedures.
Trump's “Gold Card” visa can pose fraud, national security risks: Experts
“If someone is wrong – we are actually very good. That makes it much easier legally – we will pay them back and we will send them out,” he said.
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program was created by Congress in 1990 to “stimulate the US economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors,” according to a description of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website.
Given that it was created by Congress, it is unclear what legal challenges the Trump administration could face when it tries to complete the program.
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Commerce Chief Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters that the existing EB-5 program is “full of nonsense, makeup, fraud and fraud.”
