Odaily News U.S. President Donald Trump said he was launching a program offering residency and a path to citizenship to investors who pay $5 million, creating a new pathway for legal immigration as he launches a sweeping crackdown on undocumented immigration.
Trump said the program, dubbed the "gold card," would be launched within two weeks, adding that he did not think his administration would need approval from Congress. It was unclear what the full scope of the program would be or how it would be implemented.
"We're going to put a price tag of about $5 million for this card and it will give you green card privileges," he added, referring to the cards currently issued to permanent U.S. residents.
Lutnick said the move could replace the existing EB-5 program, which allows immigrant investors to obtain green cards by investing a certain amount of money in U.S. businesses. When asked by reporters whether participants would need to invest a certain amount of money to qualify for the gold card, Lutnick said: "Yes, that's right," but he suggested that the visa funds could be paid directly to the government. He said: "Instead of having that ridiculous EB-5 program, it's better to terminate it. We will replace it with the 'Trump Gold Card.' They will be able to pay $5 million to the U.S. government, and of course they don't need to go through a review to make sure they are good world-class global citizens." (Jin Shi)