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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Economics Report. |
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What do these four things have in common: |
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a proposed wind farm in the American state of Washington, |
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a gold mine in Idaho, |
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a new casino in Las Vegas |
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and ski resort expansions in Vermont. |
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They're all investment vehicles for wealthy foreigners |
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seeking green cards to live in the United States. |
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Under American law, foreigners can get such recess |
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if they invest at least 500,000 dollars |
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to create at least 10 jobs in the country. |
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Here is an example of how the program works. |
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A few years ago, Jordan Gagner and his wife |
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needed to move from their home in Canada |
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to a drier climate, like Arizona. |
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At first, the possibility of moving south |
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of the border permanently seemed unlikely. |
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"Being a self-employed wealth manager and a teacher, |
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those are two occupations |
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that are not on the top 10 lists of visas |
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being given to foreigners to come down to the U.S." |
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But then he heard about the immigrant investor visa. |
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He and several other foreign investors offered $500,000 each |
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to build an assisted living center in Bellingham, Washington. |
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Mr Gagner was credited with creating lots of jobs |
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during the recession and his whole family received green cards. |
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Immigration lawyer David Andersson organized the deal. |
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"If you have a solid investment |
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and there may be a benefit which exceeds mere return, |
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such as the ability to move your family to America, |
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then an investor may consider a lower return than, |
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for example, a bank." |
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Mr Andersson has led the way in an industry |
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he says is growing quickly. |
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Companies that bringing together investors and possible borrowers |
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are officially known as "EB-5 regional centers." |
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The name comes from the part of the immigration law |
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that set up the immigrant investor visa. |
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Some Americans have expressed concerns about the program. |
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Landowner Harland Radomske first heard about it |
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when a group of wealthy Koreans were invited to invest |
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in a wind farm on land next to his property. |
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He feared a wind farm would reduce the value of his ranch, |
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and there was more. |
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"We have all of this controversy going over immigration, |
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the borders of Mexico, and all of that, |
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issues before the Congress and Senate and so on. |
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And now we find out unbeknownst, |
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if you're a rich foreigner, |
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you can buy your way to citizenship." |
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The wind project developers refused many requests |
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to tell the side of the story. |
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Yet, even with the despite over immigration, |
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the foreign investor program has a lot of support in Congress. |
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There is also a move to make the program permanent. |
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And that's the Economics Report from VOA Learning English. |
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I'm Mario Ritter. |
