Press Release

On February 25, 2025, President Donald Trump floated a new immigration initiative called the Trump Gold Card, a proposal that would allow wealthy foreign investors to gain permanent residency and eventual U.S. citizenship in exchange for a $5 million payment to the federal government. This initiative is being positioned as an alternative to the existing EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which requires foreign investors to create jobs in the U.S. rather than just paying a lump sum.

However, this proposal raises several legal, economic, and political questions, including:

Does Trump have the authority to implement it?
Would Congress approve such a program?
How does it affect the EB-5 program, especially after the 2022 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA)?
Is repealing EB-5 a good policy decision?

Trump’s Gold Card Proposal: How It Works

The details of the Trump Gold Card are not announced yet. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, President Trump unveiled his plans to introduce the Trump Gold Card, which he stated would:

• Grant a pathway to U.S. residency and citizenship in exchange for a $5 million payment to the U.S. government.
• Reduce national debt, with Trump claiming it could raise trillions in revenue if enough wealthy applicants participate.

This proposal is framed as a direct cash-for-visa model, different from EB-5, which relies on investments that contribute to economic growth.

Does Trump Have the Power to Implement It?

While a sitting president has broad executive authority over immigration, the creation of a new visa category or residency pathway requires Congressional approval. Immigration laws, including the EB-5 program, are governed by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which only Congress can amend. The president can influence immigration through executive orders and policy changes, but Congress holds the ultimate power to pass or modify immigration laws, including visa programs.

If Trump attempts to establish the Gold Card via executive action, it would likely be struck down in court, as immigration laws must go through the legislative process. The only way for Trump to successfully implement this program would be to persuade Congress to pass new legislation creating the Gold Card category.

This presents a significant hurdle, as many lawmakers may be unwilling to support a program that appears to sell U.S. residency to the highest bidder without economic benefits like job creation.

How the Gold Card Conflicts with the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA)

The EB-5 program, first established in 1990, allows foreign investors to gain Green Cards by investing $800,000 in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) or $1.05 million elsewhere, provided the investment creates at least 10 U.S. jobs.

In March 2022, Congress passed the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA), which reauthorized the EB-5 Regional Center program until September 2027. The RIA added transparency and integrity measures to prevent fraud. With increased government oversight, investor confidence in the program increased as can be seen in the surge in the number of filings in recent years.

The Gold Card directly contradicts RIA’s goals of ensuring that immigrant investors contribute to U.S. economic development rather than just paying for residency. Trump cannot simply “replace” EB-5 with the Gold Card and it would take an act of Congress to repeal it.

Would Repealing EB-5 Be a Good Decision?

Trump has suggested that EB-5 should be eliminated, potentially replacing it with the Gold Card. However, this raises several issues:

1. Economic Consequences

• EB-5 has historically funded major U.S. real estate projects, including hotels, infrastructure, and commercial developments.
• Ending the program would cut off a key source of low-cost investment capital, particularly for developers in states like Florida, Texas, and New York.

2. Political Feasibility

• The real estate industry and many Republican lawmakers support EB-5, making a full repeal unlikely.
• Senators and Congress members from investment-heavy districts (Miami, Los Angeles, and New York) would likely oppose dismantling the program.

3. Legal and Practical Challenges

• If Trump tries to repeal EB-5 via executive action, he will face lawsuits from investors and businesses.
• Attempts to end the EB-5 Regional Center program which has been reauthorized pursuant to the RIA must go through Congress.

4. Would the Gold Card Even Work?

• The $5 million price tag for the Gold Card may be too steep to attract a large number of applicants. A similar trend was observed with the EB-5 program, where applications declined after the investment threshold increased from $500,000 to $900,000 in 2019. However, once the price was adjusted to $800,000, application numbers rebounded. The increase in investment was largely justified by inflation, and the Reform and Integrity Act (RIA) ensures that the amount is subject to periodic review and adjustments based on inflation. The stability in pricing reassured investors, giving them confidence that the program’s cost had reached its lowest feasible point. As a result, investors no longer hesitated or adopted a wait-and-see approach regarding the investment amount. That said, the jump from $800,000 to $5 million represents a 525% increase, a significant hike that could deter many potential investors and impact overall demand.
• The lack of a job creation requirement means it would face opposition from lawmakers and the public, who may see it as an unfair shortcut for the ultra-wealthy.
• With 4,848 I-526/E petitions filed in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, the estimated total investment is as follows (assuming that all petitions were filed in a TEA):

Minimum Investment Requirement: $800,000 per investor for TEA projects.​

Total Investment: 4,848 investors × $800,000 = $3.8784 billion​

This substantial influx of nearly $3.9 billion highlights the EB-5 program’s significant role in channeling foreign capital into the U.S. economy, fostering job creation and economic growth.

Final Thoughts

Trump’s Gold Card initiative is an ambitious proposal that would dramatically shift U.S. investor immigration policy, replacing job-creating investments with a pay-for-residency model. However, Congress — not the president — controls immigration law, making it highly unlikely that this plan will move forward without significant legislative hurdles.

While Trump may seek to weaken or phase out EB-5, the 2022 RIA is clear. For now, EB-5 remains a more viable and economically beneficial program, while the Gold Card will face serious legal and political roadblocks.

Would a Trump administration attempt to override EB-5? Possibly. Would it succeed? That’s far less certain.