WASHINGTON, DC – May 11, 2020
Invest in the USA (IIUSA) released the following response to the recent letter sent to President Donald J. Trump from U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Josh Hawley (R-MO) urging a suspension of the EB-5 program and several other employment-based immigration categories until “unemployment has returned to normal levels.”
We find the Senators’ position to shut down the EB-5 immigrant investor program to be deeply troubling. If they are genuinely looking for opportunities to repair the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the EB-5 program is a proven job creation and retention tool. It is not an employment hindrance. It should be part of their solution to create thousands of new U.S. jobs at no cost to the U.S. government.
Proof of EB-5 as an economic engine is in the government’s own data. The U.S. Department of Commerce found that each EB-5 investment would result in the creation of 16 American jobs. Between 2008 and 2015, the EB-5 program generated more than $20 billion in economic investment that created more than 730,000 American jobs. That is amazing, especially when we recognize the $20 billion was NOT American taxpayer dollars.
The U.S. government concluded the EB-5 program creates U.S. jobs at no cost to the taxpayer. While the full extent of COVID-19’s economic damage is unknown, there are already concerns over the growing federal deficit and potential tightening of the domestic credit and finance markets. If we move to eliminate any portion of valuable international investments, the road to recovery will be even longer and more painful. We point to the Congressional Budget Office report that scored the EB-5 program as revenue-neutral, with administrative costs paid for by applicant fees.
Aaron Grau, IIUSA Executive Director, stated, “IIUSA has been at the forefront of working with Congress and the Administration to bring needed reforms to the program. We emphatically support oversight and reform to allow for even more investment to the United States.”
He continued, “Suspending the EB-5 program would be another devastating blow to the U.S. economy. The EB-5 Program has the potential to attract billions of dollars, save more than 100,000 household incomes, and create and retain jobs, all at no cost to the U.S. taxpayer.”
