SENATE TO TAKE UP EB-5

Despite the obvious benefits that the EB-5 Program has brought to cities and states throughout the United States, some politicians prefer to delve in what they refer to as ‘controversy.’ The controversy partially questions the location of the new EB-5 created jobs. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley stated that "Despite clear congressional intent to spur immigrants to invest and create jobs in the areas of greatest need," Grassley said, "the [Department of Homeland Security] has routinely allowed EB-5 money to be invested in projects in affluent urban areas with low unemployment and little shortage of available financing." 

Other politicians have referred to the 2015 report from the Government Accountability Office that concluded that EB-5 "faced significant challenges in its efforts to detect and mitigate fraud risks." It even suggested the program's economic benefits may be overstated. Added to these worries are a stream of news reports about EB-5 malfeasance and several Securities and Exchange Commission investigations, which Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., discussed at length at the last Congressional hearing in February 2016. An opponent of the entire EB-5 initiative, Feinstein spent her time at the dais reviewing half a dozen alleged fraud cases across the country. In one, a Florida businesswoman used investment money to buy a multi-million dollar home, a 48-foot boat, a BMW and a Mercedes, according to the South Florida Business Journal. She also argued that America shouldn't be in the business of selling a pathway to citizenship — especially while others are waiting in line. "The right to immigrate should not be for sale," she said. Feinstein's position puts her at odds with New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, likely the next leader of the Senate Democrats. He's part of a bipartisan group backing a new EB-5 reform proposal from Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., but was quick to defend the program as vital to his low-income constituents in the South Bronx. "To eliminate it, at a time when we're desperate to help people stay in the middle class and get to the middle class, makes no sense," he said.