I saw a segment yesterday on Fox News on the EB-5 visa that made it sound like this was a great program, doing exactly what it was supposed to do. The reporter was out in the field’s of Illinois watching a building being built, with the mayor of the town close in tow, extolling the virtues of the EB-5. He used the exact words described by Homeland Security as the reasons for the program - benefits low economic area by employing local people.
The story mentions the Chinese who get green cards out of this for contributing as little as $500,000. The mayor says: “The Chinese really want to employ these people and deserve the benefits.” He was very sincere, but I couldn’t help laugh.
He fails to mention that the EB-5 visa allows those same Chinese to donate to his electoral campaign the next time he is up for office. They can donate the same as a US citizen, because having a green card has benefits that very few even know about. Being able to donate to elections is one of them. This is as crooked as can be, and the main beneficiaries of this nonsense are politicians who take money for these so-called employment programs. I added a section to second edition of my first book to show the truth of some of that. These are not rural, or disadvantaged areas that are benefiting from this program. Only political parties and politicians benefit, and a few fat cat builders who make money off the sale of the properties. Look at Texas, California and New York as the biggest beneficiaries. The building programs are in anything but disadvantaged areas. Atlantic Monthly had a good article on the whole scheme that pegs Chinese as 90% of the beneficiaries of this program. That number is down now, though one has to wonder why that is. It seems like too good of a deal to pass up. Check the classified ads for some of these programs - yes, they are advertised as investment opportunities.
No comments:
Post a Comment