Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00A new pathway to citizenship comes as the Trump administration cracks down on immigration
00:05into the United States.
00:06The US president says he's to sell gold residency permits at a price of $5 million to so-called
00:13high-level people who create jobs.
00:16We're going to be selling a gold card.
00:25You have a green card.
00:26This is a gold card.
00:28We're going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million, and that's going
00:32to give you green card privileges plus.
00:34Would a Russian oligarch be eligible for a gold card?
00:38Yeah, possibly.
00:39Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people.
00:43It's possible.
00:44They're not quite as wealthy as they used to be.
00:49They're not as wealthy as they used to be.
00:51I think they could afford $5 million.
00:56More on that plan.
00:57Let's cross live now to Fraser Jackson, our correspondent in Washington.
01:02So Fraser, we heard there from Donald Trump, Russian oligarchs may be eligible.
01:07What more do we know?
01:09Yeah, this is going to be ringing alarm bells for people like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth
01:14Warren on the progressive side of the political side here in the United States who say that
01:19the oligarchy is already underway in America.
01:22Well, I think it's fair to say that this will be ringing alarm bells in their heads
01:26this evening.
01:27Donald Trump saying on Tuesday he wants to begin selling what he's calling a gold card
01:30for $5 million to foreigners who want to move to the U.S. and create jobs.
01:35Now, this gold card would give people green card privileges, which is the current card,
01:41which effectively is permanent residency in the United States.
01:44It also gives these people a pathway to citizenship in the United States as well, which, of course,
01:48comes with the added benefits of being able to vote and not just pay taxes.
01:53But he also said wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card.
01:57They'll be wealthy.
01:58They'll be successful.
01:59And they'll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot
02:03of people.
02:04And we think it's going to be extremely successful.
02:06Well, as you heard there, Donald Trump said the immigration program, which he said was
02:10legal, would be open potentially to possible Russian oligarchs.
02:14He said that they could potentially qualify for the gold cards.
02:18And he said that he expects this program to be up and running in about two weeks.
02:21Now, it should be noted that there is already a similar program in effect here in the United
02:26States.
02:27It's called the EB-5 immigrant investor visa.
02:30And if you remember, during the first term, Donald Trump said that he was going to be
02:33raising the minimum for that card from $1 million to $1.8 million.
02:38Well, that entire system has now been scrapped entirely and seemingly replaced by this gold
02:42card system, where the buy-in fee is effectively $5 million.
02:47It's also not only a U.S. kind of thing.
02:50We have seen this in multiple other countries around the world.
02:53It exists in Canada.
02:54It also exists in places closer to home in the UK, sorry, in the EU rather, like places
03:00like Spain, Portugal, and Malta as well.
03:02So nothing completely new here from Donald Trump, effectively just raising the bar that
03:07it costs to get into the United States.
03:09But the land about the oligarchy will likely be picked up upon by the more progressive
03:14parts of the United States political spectrum.
03:16Fraser Jackson, for now, thank you so much.
03:18That's Fraser joining us live from Washington.
03:22Well, he.