President Trump’s proposed Gold Card is being pitched as a bold new way to attract smart, successful and wealthy people to the United States immigrants who can contribute immediately and meaningfully to our economy. Used correctly it could be a good way to make a dent in our national debt.
But there is an important caveat. The Trump Gold Card must not replace one of the most successful pro worker immigration programs America already has. That program is EB5, which is the America First of visas..
EB5 is the essence of MAGA immigration. The country benefits. American workers benefit. Communities benefit. We actually get something in return. Not just a check written to Washington.
Under the EB5 program foreign investors put their own money directly into American projects in exchange for legal residency in the United States. Not citizenship. Residency. That distinction matters. EB5 does not hand out passports. It offers a legal path to live and work in this country only after the investor has met strict requirements and delivered real economic value.
Those investments go into American projects such as real estate developments, infrastructure manufacturing and other job creating ventures across the country. And here is the key distinction. EB5 investments must create American jobs. Not projected jobs. Not theoretical jobs. Real jobs filled by real Americans.
Right now there is a push inside the Trump administration to lower the cost of the Gold Card to roughly one million dollars. That figure is dangerously close to the investment levels required under EB5. According to high ranking sources within the administration Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is advocating for Gold Card payments to be used primarily to pay down the national debt.
But, that approach would be a serious mistake.
If the federal government offers wealthy immigrants a one time payment option for legal residence at roughly the same price point as EB5 it would effectively gut the EB5 program. Instead of investing in businesses creating jobs and generating long term economic activity applicants would simply write a check to Washington and move on. That is not investment. That is a legalized bribe and it does nothing to strengthen the American workforce.
There is a better, smarter approach.
Keep the cost of the Trump Gold Card where it was originally proposed: five million dollars. Use that money for debt reduction if Congress chooses. But leave EB5 intact.
This creates a natural logical separation between the two programs. Ultra high net worth individuals who can afford a five million dollar price tag can choose the Gold Card. Meanwhile investors who do not have that level of liquidity but still want to build businesses and contribute to America will choose EB5.
And when they do their investment does not disappear into a government ledger. It works for America year after year.
An EB5 investor who puts up one million dollars does not just make a one time payment. That capital goes into businesses that pay taxes, hire workers, expand operations and fuel local economies. The revenue generated is not a one off transaction. It is recurring income for the United States.
This is similar in spirit to Opportunity Zones which were made permanent in the One Big Beautiful Bill giving businesses certainty in long term planning and investment decisions. The difference is that EB5 goes even further. Unlike Opportunity Zones there is no cost to the federal government. In fact it is quite the opposite. America gains investment jobs, wages tax revenue and economic growth without spending taxpayer dollars. Congress should equally make EB5 permanent allowing business to have certainty in their investment planning.
Just as important, each EB5 investment creates an average of forty five American jobs. Why would we dismantle a program that delivers that kind of return?
The numbers speak for themselves. From 2016 to 2019 alone EB5 generated seventy five billion dollars in total investment and helped create one point seven million American jobs. Those jobs paid one hundred twenty two billion dollars in wages to US workers and contributed one hundred eighty four billion dollars to our GDP. The program also produced fourteen point five billion dollars in tax revenue.
Even more impressive, every five hundred thousand dollars invested through EB5 generates an additional one point six million dollars in private investment. That is not immigration replacing Americans. That is immigration employing Americans.
So let President Trump have his Gold Card but with a higher price tag. What we cannot afford to do is destroy the one immigration program that is demonstrably working and doing so without costing taxpayers a dime.
If lawmakers are looking to eliminate a program that actually steals jobs from Americans they should focus their attention elsewhere specifically on the H1B visa program.
Unlike EB5 H1B imports labor not capital. It allows companies to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor under the guise of a skills shortage. The result is wage suppression, reduced opportunity for American professionals and less incentive for companies to train domestic talent.
H1B depresses wages and outsources opportunity. EB5 creates jobs, raises tax revenue and fuels long term growth without displacing a single US worker.
If the goal is economic nationalism, rising wages and real prosperity for American families then expanding EB5 while reining in H1B is not radical. It is common sense.
America does not need more cheap labor.
America needs more investment.
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