Trump to sell visas to wealthy immigrants for $5 million

US President Donald Trump has approved the repeal of the right to American citizenship by birth in the country. He has also closed the border to illegal immigration and threatened mass deportation of immigrants. However, there is room for the rich. Trump announced this Tuesday in the Oval Office of the White House that he will put on sale a gold card, similar to the green card, which now certifies legal residence. However, his gold visa will cost around five million dollars. In addition to residency, it will open the way to American citizenship.

“We’re going to sell a gold card . There’s already a green card . This is a gold card. We’re going to price that card at about $5 million, and that will give them green card privileges and a path to citizenship,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. The president made the remarks as he signed executive orders, including one paving the way for the imposition of tariffs on copper.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was also present, suggested the program would begin in two weeks and would replace the current EB-5 visa program for foreign investors, more akin to the golden visa programs in other countries.

“The president said that instead of having this kind of ridiculous EB-5 program, we’re going to end the EB-5 program. We’re going to replace it with the Trump Gold Card. They’ll be able to pay five million dollars to the United States government,” Lutnick explained. The immigrants will be vetted to “make sure that they are wonderful, first-class global citizens,” he added.

“They can come to the United States. The president can give them a green card, and they can invest in the United States, and we can use that money to reduce our deficit,” the Commerce Secretary said. It was not clear whether any investment commitment of any kind would be required beyond paying the visa fee. Those and other details of the plan are not yet available.

Trump said he hopes businesses will pay to bring skilled workers to the U.S. by buying these gold cards, and that the U.S. could sell a million cards. If that goal is met, the Treasury would raise $5 trillion and could pay off more than 10 percent of the federal debt.

The president said the card would pave the way to citizenship, but that people would not buy the right to citizenship with the card.