For a supposedly “bad” idea, President Donald Trump’s “gold card visa” program isn’t doing bad at all.
During a Thursday appearance on the policy-heavy podcast “All-In,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Trump’s new effort to attract the world’s wealthy to pay for U.S. residency status is already paying off big time.
In fact, Lutnick said, it brought in $5 billion in a single day.
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And its benefits to the U.S. as a whole are obvious, according to the commerce secretary.
“The most productive people in the world are going to start spending time here,” he said. “They’re going to have a family office. They’re going to hire some people.”
Trump announced the program in February as a replacement for the EB-5 program, which offers green cards to foreigners who commit to investing at least $1 million in job creation in the U.S.
At the time, former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu — a Republican who supported Nikki Haley during the GOP primary season — denounced the plan.
“It’s a bad idea,” he said on the NewsNation program “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.”… Any time you’re saying, ‘if you have money, you go to the front of the line, or you get preferential treatment ….
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“Look, I get it if you’re getting a comfortable seat on an airline. But we’re talking about U.S. citizenship, the most desired thing on the planet. And just letting the rich kind of cut the line. No, don’t buy it, don’t like it.”
It sounds rude to suggest the scion of a political dynasty like Sununu might be a little wet behind the ears — his father, John Sununu, served as governor of the Granite State, after all, as well as chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush.
But here’s a news flash for the New Hampshirite: The rich always get preferential treatment — it’s one of the chief attractions of being rich in the first place.
Their mothers get the best hospitals when they’re born, they go to the best schools, they tend to get the best jobs. And if the need arises, they get the best criminal defense attorneys money can buy. If that fails, there’s always a presidential pardon possible. (See: Rich, Marc or Biden, Hunter)
Twas ever thus. Twill ever be thus.
And if the U.S. government can take some baby steps toward paying down a huge national debt by taking advantage of the global desire to be part of the American experiment, charging $5 million a head is not a bad way to go about it.
It’s also considerably better than the Democratic approach: An invasion of countless millions of illegal aliens washing over the southern border to become burdens on American communities — from law enforcement to health care to public schools. (Not to mention vicious transnational gangs and brutal murderers.)
On the podcast, Lutnick estimated there are 37 million individuals in the world who could afford a gold card.
“The president thinks we can sell a million,” Lutnick said.
That comes out to $5 trillion — which is no small amount of money in a country with a national debt of $36 trillion.
Of course, it might feel a little sticky to put American permanent residency — and potential future citizenship — up for sale so blatantly. But the alternative, the hypocrisy of pretending wealth won’t buy preference, is even worse.
And leaving borders open to all comers, regardless of ability, wealth, or potential to be a drain on American society — a la Joe Biden and his Democratic Party — is worst of all.
Both Trump and Lutnick have said potential recipients will be vetted thoroughly. And if they turn out bad, Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham in a White House interview, their money can be returned and they can be deported — fast.
That makes it basically a business deal, subject to the satisfaction of both parties involved. And Trump is nothing if not a successful businessman. He’s built a remarkable, unprecedented political career on the promise that he can bring that success to government.
The early success of this “bad” idea is just one more proof.
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