President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday the upcoming release of a $5 million “gold card” that will offer a new route to obtaining U.S. citizenship.
“Its like the green card, but better and more sophisticated,” Trump said. “And these people will have to pay tax in our country.”
Trump explained that this alternative path to citizenship “will enable highly successful individuals who generate employment opportunities globally to purchase a route to U.S. citizenship.”
Details of the newest visa remain unclear, but Trump said it was just one of his plans to revamp U.S. immigration policies.
However, concerns were raised after Trump’s initial announcement by Lora Ries, the director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, who cautioned against the potential for fraudulent activity.
“Any immigration benefit draws fraud … people are willing to do anything and say just about anything to come to the U.S.,” Ries told Fox News Digital.
While Ries acknowledged the goals behind the program, she expressed skepticism that all applicants could be vetted to the extent needed to prevent the type of fraud that exists in the similar EB-5 visa program, which Trump’s gold card would replace.
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 04: U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to address a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Vice President JD Vance applaud behind him. (Win McNamee/Pool via REUTERS)
“Fraud is rarely detected, let alone enforced … so it’s low risk, high reward to commit immigration benefit fraud,” Ries said, adding that even Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick admitted to the widespread fraud plaguing the EB-5 program.
“So the question is: How is this going to be different,” Ries said. “It raised the price from a million to 5 million, but how are we going to prevent the fraud? Are you just inviting wealthier fraudsters and corrupt people to exploit this?”
