'Trump Gold Card' an Innovative Idea to Attract Affluent Migrants, Don't Forget Silver, Bronze for Those Equally Contributing to U.S.
President Trump recently announced a new "gold card" visa which many in the media have dubbed the "Trump Gold Card."
Under the president's plan, for this card, affluent foreign nationals could purchase a gold card for $5 million.
In exchange, they would have the opportunity to obtain permanent residency and a pathway to citizenship.
What's behind the idea for this program?
It's potentially attracting wealthy individuals who can help bolster the U.S. economy through large investments, job creation, and tax payments.
The initial $5 million would go to the government to help with deficit reduction.
Although some have questioned the Trump Visa gold card plan, this is not a new idea.
Trump's is merely a proposal to replace an existing program, the EB-5 visa.
By way of some background, the EB-5 program was established by Congress in 1990, and basic eligibility calls for an investment of around $1 million in a business that creates at least 10 jobs.
According to CBS News, one major difference between the EB-5 and the new proposal is the $5 million price tag for the gold card.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick believes there are more differences.
He said the current EB-5 program is "full of nonsense, make believe, and fraud."
He added, the new program will be less complicated and include a vetting process for applicants to "make sure they're wonderful, world-class global citizens."
There has been some criticism over the fact that the gold card will be a program in which someone must be wealthy to participate. This writer happens to believe the president is on the right track in trying to streamline the current complicated program.
However, I would also make the case that he can expand his idea to counter the criticism that this is special treatment for the rich.
Perhaps our commander in chief could roll out a new card to help those who are currently in business within the United States (perhaps he could call this a silver card and a bronze card).
If you Google anything regarding the U.S. workforce, you will find much information about the fact that we have a worker shortage in this country.
Concurrently, it's common knowledge that there are many people in our workforce who are undocumented. Perhaps they came here legally on a visa at one point; however, they remained working in the U.S. after that visa expired. Although President Trump has stated that such people are not a primary target for deportation, their undocumented status means the potential for deportation remains.
Since our country needs workers, it seems to this writer that we should find a way to allow such people who work hard and otherwise stay out of trouble (concrete workers, brick layers, house framers, roofers, farm workers, etc.) to remain here and continue working.
One way to allow this would be to expand the immigration registry, you can read more about that here. Although updating the registry would not provide a path to citizenship, it would include a vetting process and allow workers who qualify to legally remain in this country.
A silver and bronze card program could offer another way to accomplish the same thing. Under this idea, we could allow employers who suspect they could have some undocumented workers to apply for such a card for their employees.
The employer would pay a set fee for vetting these law-abiding hard workers and, upon card issuance, an employer tariff of $1.50 per-hour worked would be assessed for each worker.
Based on a 60-hour work week, the employer (not the employee) would pay $90 per week to the government for each employee covered under the program. This would be a manageable cost for employers, but it would add up to a sizeable source of revenue for government.
According to Pew Research, there were 8.3 million undocumented immigrants working in the U.S. in 2022. For ease of calculations, let’s assume that number is 10 million today.
Based on this number at $90 per employee per week, this would mean the government would collect almost $50 billion dollars annually from employers who participate in this program.
Obviously, this would be a win for government, which could use the funds to shore up programs such as Social Security, to benefit all Americans.
It would also be a win for employers who could retain employees, as well as the employees themselves, because they would now be able to come out of the shadows.
One of our employees (we will call him "T.R.") is a diabetic who began having foot issues related to diabetes.
Although he feared he would lose his foot, his doctor assessed the situation and determined they could solve his problems by removing his little toe.
Because the doctor exercised good judgment, T.R. kept his foot.
Now, he is able to walk, and has returned to work.
Polls consistently show that a majority of citizens support President Trump on efforts to close the border and deport criminal aliens who are the worst form of criminals.
Just like the doctor in T.R.’s situation though, we need to use good judgment to ensure we don’t go too far by deporting good, law-abiding, and hardworking people who are contributing to our economy.
A silver and bronze card could go a long way toward helping to make sure that we retain people who can help drive our economic engine to Make America Great Again.
Joe from Texas is a family man with children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren who has had tremendous success and lived the American Dream. His beliefs are both straightforward and deeply held. He believes in God, his family, and the United States of America. For more information, please visit www.JoeFromTexas.com. Read Joe Penland's Reports — More Here.
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