A lawsuit has challenged Trump's Gold Card visa program, calling it an illegal fast lane for wealthy foreigners, irrespective of merit while researchers and scientists are waiting in the backlogged queue. The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Washington, asked the judge to block the program as it prioritizes wealth over intellect or ability and bypasses Congress in the process.
The Gold Card program promises permanent residency in exchange for payments of at least $1 million, like the EB-1 and EB-2 visas. In EB category visas, the applicants have to create jobs in the US but Gold Card visa program gives a waiver to the applicants from that criteria as they are 'gifting' the government a specific amount of money.
“Rather than reserving those visas for the world’s best and brightest, the Gold Card program converts those visas into revenue-generating commodities sold to the highest bidder,” the lawsuit by a coalition of immigrants, labor unions and academic organizations argued.
Who qualifies for EB-1, EB-2 visas?
People with extraordinary ability qualify for an EB-1 visa showing sustained national or international acclaim and achievements that have been recognized in their field. One must intend to continue to work in this field and show that you will substantially benefit the United States in the future.
The lawsuit noted that none of these categories created by Congress includes a million-dollar pay and play option and there is a separate visa category for that. EB-5 was specifically created by Congress to spur investment in the US and this category requires applicants to invest about $1 million in a new commercial enterprise for at least two years, but it also has other, more stringent requirements, including specifications as to where such investments must be made.
“If you look at the statute, you can tell Congress made some pretty deliberate decisions about how they wanted to structure the availability of these visas,” said Sarah Wilson, a partner at the law firm Colombo & Hurd and one of the lawyers who brought the suit. Wilson's firm was joined by the Democracy Defenders Fund, a nonprofit that challenged Trump administration on a number of fronts.
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