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Got $5M? Trump’s got a path to citizenship for you [1]
['Daily Kos Staff']
Date: 2025-02-26
President Donald Trump announced plans to launch a “gold card,” which would give rich foreigners a pathway to citizenship if they drop a pretty penny on the U.S.
“We’re going to be selling a gold card,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday. “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.”
This would replace the EB-5 immigrant investor visa, which Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters was full of “nonsense, make believe, and fraud.”
Lutnick slammed the visa program—which was originally created by Congress in 1990 as a means to generate foreign investments—as a low price way for wealthy foreigners to get a visa.
Instead, Lutnick said, the U.S. can use the $5 million foreigners would pay toward reducing the national debt.
“Why do we give out lotteries of green cards?” Lutnick asked. “The president of the United States understands that the right answer is ‘Why don’t we eliminate the deficit of America instead?’”
x Trump: "We're gonna be selling a gold card. You have a green card, this is a gold card. We're gonna put a price on that card of about $5 million and that's going to give you green card privileges, plus. It's gonna be a route to citizenship, and wealthy people will be coming into our country."
[image or embed] — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) February 25, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Trump explained to reporters that this doesn’t just open the door for wealthy people to buy their own gold cards should they eventually want to become U.S. citizens. He also told reporters that companies or wealthy individuals could pay a lump sum to bring in foreigners to work for their companies.
However, when asked by one reporter if he would consider granting visas to Russian oligarchs, Trump said, "Yeah, possibly. Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people.”
Trump has been leaning hard into his support of Russia this second time around as president.
Earlier this week, in a shock vote at the United Nations, the U.S. voted against a resolution to condemn Russia for the war in Ukraine.
Of course, Trump had his love letters to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and his fanboy moments with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin during his first term, but outright siding with Russia has raised some eyebrows. The convicted felon even went as far to label Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator.”
Even Trump’s son, Don Jr., has taken to his podcast to say that the U.S. should have been sending weapons to Russian forces all along.
Circling back to Trump’s visa plan, the monetization of bringing in immigrants with money stands at a start contrast to what is happening to other immigrants. While Trump is boasting over gold cards, the messaging changes when referring to immigrants with less money.
Even his border czar, Tom Homan, and team of ICE agents are posting inhumane videos of undocumented immigrants in chains.
All in all, the messages seem to add up. Trump is in favor of anything at a certain price tag.
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