A New York real-estate developer is playing a central role in blocking a bipartisan plan to overhaul a controversial immigration program that gives green cards to foreign investors.
Related Cos., a developer of massive mixed-use projects, has waged an aggressive campaign to head off proposed changes to the so-called EB-5 program in an apparent effort to keep low-cost money flowing to luxury urban projects such as its $20 billion Hudson Yards development in Manhattan.
The EB-5 program offers green cards, allowing for permanent legal U.S. residency, to immigrants who invest at least $500,000 in certain U.S. businesses measured to create at least 10 jobs per investor. The program allows 10,000 visas a year.
At the heart of the fight is that developers including Related use a provision meant for rural and high unemployment areas in order to bring financing for luxury projects, often in some of the most expensive neighborhoods in the country.
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