About a month into his second term, Donald Trump unveiled plans for a visa program — at the time, it was billed as the president’s “gold cards” — which he said would be similar to green cards “but at a higher level of sophistication.” He added that the point was to allow “very high-level people” to enjoy a new route to American citizenship by giving the government $5 million.
Almost a year later, these cards are now officially available — at a discount. The Associated Press reported:
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that his long-promised ‘gold card’ was officially going on sale, offering legal status and an eventual pathway to U.S. citizenship for individuals paying $1 million and corporations ponying up twice that per foreign-born employee.
A website accepting applications went live as Trump revealed the start of the program while surrounded by business leaders in the White House’s Roosevelt Room.
The broader societal contrast is tough to miss: In an era in which masked federal officials are terrorizing immigrant communities and launching aggressive raids on those they believe might be undocumented, Trump is simultaneously offering a pathway to citizenship to foreign millionaires and billionaires.
There are similar programs elsewhere — the International Monetary Fund refers to these as “golden passport programs” — though all of this will be quite new to the U.S., should the project advance as planned.
While the cards were originally pitched as “gold cards,” the initiative has since been rebranded as “Trump Gold Cards,” no doubt because the president places a high priority on putting his name on things.
What’s more, according to the weird website created by the White House, the cards themselves will feature Trump’s face, name and signature, alongside a picture of the Statue of Liberty (an irony no doubt lost on the officials who designed this). An earlier version of the card also included the number 5,000,000, but now that the price has dropped, that’s since been removed.
As for the amount of money the program is expected to generate, the administration hasn’t offered any details (at least not lately), though earlier this year the president told reporters that, by his estimation, the program could generate “$50 trillion.”
In related news, this guy really isn’t good at math.
But that’s hardly the only problem. A Bloomberg News report, for example, noted that international law enforcement agencies have warned that programs like these “facilitate criminal activity and are riddled with corruption.” The same report added, “The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, has warned for years that golden visa programs expose the bloc to money laundering and security risks.”
And then there are the political considerations: For years, the right has condemned the very idea of foreigners jumping the line to reach the United States, rather than waiting their turn and playing by the rules. Trump is now encouraging foreigners to jump the line by writing big checks. But hanging overhead is a different kind of question: Is this legal? A Washington Post report published in July noted, “Trump and his aides have repeatedly exaggerated the likelihood that such a program can be implemented under current law, and they have made no effort to introduce legislation to make it happen. Immigration attorneys and other legal experts say a president has no power to unilaterally create a new visa category, which would require an act of Congress.” On Wednesday afternoon, as the cards ostensibly went on sale, the president published an item to his social media platform that described the developments as “SO EXCITING!” But with legal fights on the way, anyone writing seven-figure checks should not assume that their card is coming anytime soon. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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