Editor’s Note: The answer to the above questions is yes unless program reforms are initiated immediately. The most substantial criticisms of the EB-5 raised by the GAO and the DHS IG are (1) that there is no documentation of job creation and (2) little is done to aid rural or high unemployment areas.
In that it is uncertain whether the Congress will act in the immediate future and the fact that the DHS proposals do not address the aforementioned concerns lead a former official of the White House Office of Management and Budget to petition DHS to make administrative changes immediately to restart the EB-5 program.
The aforementioned petition is under serious review and could benefit from stakeholder and Congressional support particularly because it is very short and to the point. The “ask” should be to publish the aforementioned petition as an interim final rule effective September 1.
