The selling of U.S. green cards to foreigners, particularly the Chinese, has grown exponentially in 2014, and represents a significant public policy debate very few Americans are aware of. I covered the surging issuance of EB-5 immigrant visas a couple of weeks ago in the post: How the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is Selling Residency to Chinese “Investors” at $500k a Pop. Here’s an excerpt:
A major theme here at Liberty Blitzkrieg over the past year has been the creative ways in which corrupt Chinese oligarchs and government officials are maneuvering their way into the United States. To be clear, I am not anti-immigration by any stretch of the imagination. My mother was an immigrant. This is about being against corrupt and morally compromised individuals being welcomed here with open arms just because they have cash. We have enough domestic criminal oligarchs as it stands. These people have collectively captured the American political and economic system and control it to their own ends. Do we really need to import more of these types from abroad?
Here’s what I’d like to know. Who are these investors and who vets them? It is a known fact that corrupt Chinese officials and businessmen are scrambling to get themselves and their money out of their homeland as the government cracks down on corruption. How many of them are going to use this program to get into the U.S., and what will be the long-term impact to our society? Important questions that must be asked, but most likely aren’t being taken seriously.
While that article focused on a turnpike in Pennsylvania and mentioned a few other projects, it didn’t clarify how widespread the use of these visas has become in 2014. Specifically, there were 10,928 applications for EB-5 visas in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2014. This was up a stunning 72% from fiscal year 2013. Even more shocking, the number of applications in 2006 was 486. So the 2014 figure is up 22x in less than 10 years. That’s not normal.
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The city, population 57,600, projects that about 150 older homes—53 percent more than normal—will be torn down this year and replaced with mansions. The deals happen fast and are rarely listed publicly. Often, the first indication that a megahouse is coming next door is when the lawn turns brown. That means the neighbor has stopped watering and green construction netting is about to go up.