President Donald Trump’s plan to offer a “gold card” visa to those willing to shell out $5 million could raise new fraud and national security risks, according to one expert.
“Any immigration benefit draws fraud … people are willing to do anything and say just about anything to come to the U.S.,” Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital.
The comments come after Trump announced Tuesday a plan that would give those willing to pay $5 million for a “gold card” lawful permanent U.S. residency status and a pathway to citizenship, which the president argued would lead to several economic benefits.
“They’ll be wealthy, and they’ll be successful,” Trump told reporters from the Oval Office on Tuesday. “They’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it’s going to be extremely successful.”
Trump doubled down on those comments Wednesday while also telling reporters that the program would be a way to pay down some of the national debt.
“Companies can go and buy a gold card, and they can use it as a matter of recruitment,” Trump said. “At the same time, the company is using that money to pay down debt. We’re going to pay down a lot of debt with that.”
But while Ries acknowledged that she understands the goals behind the program, she expressed skepticism that applicants could be vetted well enough to prevent the kind of fraud currently seen in the similar EB-5 visa program, which Trump’s gold card would replace.
“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.
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“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?”
Ries also raised concerns about the potential national security implications of the program, arguing that many of the applications are likely to originate from countries that are not exactly friendly to the United States.
“Who can afford this? What countries have many people who can afford this,” Ries said. “Russia, China … you’re going to get Gulf countries, but China is not exactly our ally – some Russians, the same boat.”
Ries said the key will be the system used to vet potential applicants, details of which have yet to be revealed by the Trump administration.
“It’s going to need thorough vetting for national security concerns, espionage and corruption,” Ries said. “That’s going to be very, very important.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
