Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Wednesday that 250,000 are waiting to get one of President Trump’s so-called “gold cards,” which the president pitched as a replacement for the EB5 investor visa.
In an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report” with Bret Baier, Lutnick defended the proposed program as a way to rake in potentially enough money to start paying off the country’s debt.
“There are 250,000 people waiting in line now,” Lutnick said. “If they’re willing to pay the $5 million, that’s over a trillion dollars that comes directly to — $1.25 trillion just for that line.
“And I think these people are going to come enormous ways because they know they can come into America, and they can be in the greatest country on Earth,” Lutnick added.
The Trump administration said Tuesday it would be revamping the U.S. investor visa, increasing the funds required to secure the status and dubbing the new option a “gold card.”
Lutnick stressed in the Wednesday interview that the people in line would all be vetted.
“Of course. Deeply vetted. And we said that from the first minute go. These are vetted people,” Lutnick said when asked if they’d be vetted.
“These are going to be great global citizens who are going to bring entrepreneurial spirit, capacity, and growth to America. If one of them comes in, think of the jobs they’re going to bring with them, the businesses they’re going to bring with them. And they’re going to pay American taxes as well. So this is huge money for America,” he said.
Trump on Tuesday touted the new program as a boost for economy and likened the “gold card” to an upgraded “green card.”
“We’re going to be selling a gold card. You have a green card. This is a gold card. We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million and that’s going to give you green card privileges, plus it’s going to be a route to citizenship. And wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card. They’ll be wealthy, and they’ll be successful, and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it’s going to be extremely successful,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.
