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The State Of Play In Washington – October 2019
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</h3><h4><i>by <a href=”http://discuss.ilw.com/articles/articles/391905-article-the-state-of-play-in-washington-%E2%80%93-october-2019-by-mona-shah#bio”>
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Mona Shah
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<p>
I recall sending out a blog piece discussing the State of Play in
Washington last year– October 2018
<a
href=”http://discuss.ilw.com/articles/articles/391905-article-the-state-of-play-in-washington-%E2%80%93-october-2019-by-mona-shah#1″
name=””
title=”[1]”
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[1]
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. Back then, I discussed upcoming mid-term elections, the continued funding
authorization for the EB-5 program, the Yoder Amendment, efforts to roll
back H-4 EADs, amongst other issues. <u></u>
</p>
<p>
One year along and we are fundamentally at the same place! Congress gave
the regional center program another short authorization; Senators Grassley
and Leahy re-introduced an updated version of their previous bill; the
Yoder Amendment was thrown out, only to be replaced with a bill known as
the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 (
<a href=”https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1044″>
H.R.1044
</a>
/S.386); and how could we forget,<strong><em>November 21, 2019</em></strong><strong><em>:</em></strong> <em> </em>The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization Regulation will
take effect.
</p>
<p>
<u></u>
</p>
<p>
<strong>Status of the Regional Center EB-5 Program </strong>
</p>
<p>
September 27, 2019, President Trump signed
<a href=”https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/4378″>
H.R.4378
</a>
, a continuing resolution that keeps the government funded and the regional
center program authorized through 11/21/2019. The fact that the new
Regulations will take effect on the same date is totally coincidental.
</p>
<p>
On the same day,<strong> </strong>Senators Chuck Grassley and Patrick Leahy
reintroduced a new version of their<em> EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act</em>,
focused on integrity measures. S.2540 – a bill to reauthorize the EB-5
Regional Center Program in order to prevent fraud, and to promote and
reform foreign capital investment and job creation in American communities.
<a
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[2]
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The bill does not address TEA designations or minimum amounts (primarily
because USCIS have already carried out Senator Grassley’s wishes); it fails
to address many other important issues, such as visa relief, but does
comprehensively cover integrity measures. On the face of this legislation,
it appears a much-needed bill that would enhance integrity. However, the
caveat is that there is an addition of hefty fees and red tape. The EB-5
community encourage transparency and enhanced integrity measures, but the
increased hefty fees will be onerous. Should the bill be passed into law,
we would definitely see many more regional centers permanently closing
their doors.
</p>
<p>
<strong>The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 (</strong>
<a href=”https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1044″>
<strong>H.R. 1044</strong>
</a>
<strong>/S. 386)</strong>
<strong></strong>
</p>
<p>
The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 is anything but fair!
<a href=”https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1044″>
H.R.1044
</a>
/S.386 would eliminate caps that prevent any one country from receiving
more than 7 percent of green cards for highly skilled workers. These caps
were put in place, according to the State Department, to guard against the
monopolization of the green card process by a few larger countries. While
eliminating the caps would reduce the backlog for nationals from large
countries, like India and China, it would shift that backlog onto nationals
from smaller countries—adding years of delays.
</p>
<p>
As Ira Kurzbaan notes in his excellent article,
<strong>
<a
href=”http://discuss.ilw.com/articles/articles/391905-article-the-state-of-play-in-washington-%E2%80%93-october-2019-by-mona-shah#3″
name=””
title=”[3]”
>
[3]
</a>
</strong>
another consequence of S.386 would be that:
</p>
<p>
“…<em>h</em>
<em>
igh skilled workers in other areas — like health care and medical
research, two areas of great significance to the nation — will be shut
out of residency for well over a decade. Potential new Americans in
basic science, engineering, chemistry, physics, artificial
intelligence, climate change and many other fields who are not Indian
nationals will be discouraged from ever coming to the U.S — people
working to cure cancer and Parkinson’s, to fight climate change and
create whole new industries
</em>
.<strong></strong>
</p>
<p>
Simply passing S.386, as is, would create even bigger problems for
employment-based immigration<strong> </strong>and yet, cynically, one
cannot help asking why these bills just keep on reappearing? Jamal Abdi of
The Hill writes: <em>“</em>
<em>
Why is this legislation moving so fast? At a time when Congress has
been unable to pass any meaningful reforms to address the multitude of
crises in our immigration system, how are lawmakers on the verge of
passing such a fundamental overhaul of the immigration system with
almost zero debate on the unanticipated consequences? Because nationals
who would benefit from the bill are vocal and backed by corporate
interests who would also benefit, while the many who would be affected
negatively by the change have been quiet by comparison
</em>
.”
<a
href=”http://discuss.ilw.com/articles/articles/391905-article-the-state-of-play-in-washington-%E2%80%93-october-2019-by-mona-shah#4″
name=””
title=”[4]”
>
[4]
</a>
</p>
<p>
H.R.1044 was passed by the House of Representatives last July. Although
they had wide bipartisan support for S.386, the resolution was first
blocked by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). The Senator removed his hold following
an amendment that reserved 5,000 green cards annually for those in shortage
occupations such as Registered Nurses and Physical Therapists. However, as
soon as Senator Rand Paul removed his hold, another hold was placed on
S.386 by Senator Purdue (R-GA). A few days later, Senator Purdue removed
his hold and almost immediately, Senator Durbin (D-Il) placed yet another
hold on the Senate bill. Further to the many commentaries and tweets, it
appears that the sponsors had given up on getting S.386 approved by a
unanimous consent resolution. The rumor mill states that they are
apparently planning to attach S.386 as an amendment to a spending bill. The
delay has given a growing voice to the opposition.
</p>
<p>
<strong>
Support for a Comprehensive EB-5 Bill and Long-Term Authorization
</strong>
</p>
<p>
The regional center program certainly needs the stability of a long-term
authorization. For the first time, the various EB-5 groups speak in unison,
held by a common goal. EB-5 Stakeholders include: the Rural Alliance, the
US Chamber of Commerce, the EB-5 Investment Coalition, the Real Estate
Round Table, and Invest in the USA (IIUSA ). Together these groups
currently represent large and small regional centers, rural and urban
interests, the immigration community and the business community, real
estate developers, banks, technology interests, transportation, medical
interests, and energy interests to name a few. Aaron Grau, Executive
Director of IIUSA, succinctly stated, “
<em>
After years of debate a realization set in; that the EB-5 Regional
Center program’s protocols may be dictated by those without an
appreciation of the program’s true value or worse, the program may
simply dissolve. It is said that politics make for strange bedfellows.
It is also said that necessity is the mother of invention. What is
rarely mentioned is the effort it takes to stay in bed together let
alone come to terms and create a common and plausible solution.
</em>
”
<a
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name=””
title=”[5]”
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[5]
</a>
</p>
<p>
The EB-5 community has not been silent but working feverishly behind the
scenes enlisting bipartisan congressional support, including fundraising
for various members of Congress.
<a
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name=””
title=”[6]”
>
[6]
</a>
</p>
<p>
At one such recent fundraiser, Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D/NY)
stated: “It is vital that EB-5 Stakeholders come together and support
sustainable changes to a program that will bolster its effectivity and
availability by engaging the bicameral legislature.”
</p>
<p>
The newly drafted bill, put together with the consensus of EB-5
Stakeholders, will likely be sponsored by Senator Lindsay Graham’s office,
proposes constructive changes to the EB-5 program. Representatives and
Senators alike have expressed support for the bill, and though the
Regulations going into effect on November 21<sup>st</sup> are still an
all-too-grim reality for some, it is imperative that we continue to push to
promote the EB-5 program especially as it metamorphizes.
</p>
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<p>
<a
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title=””
>
[1]
</a>
<a href=”http://mshahlaw.com/state-play-washington-october-2018/”>
http://mshahlaw.com/state-play-washington-october-2018/
</a>
</p>
</div>
<div id=”2″>
<p>
<a
href=””
name=”[2]”
title=””
>
[2]
</a>
<a
href=”https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/2540?s=4&r=2″
>
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-…l/2540?s=4&r=2
</a>
</p>
</div>
<div id=”3″>
<p>
<a
href=””
name=”[3]”
title=””
>
[3]
</a>
<a
href=”http://mshahlaw.com/ira-kurzban-fairness-high-skilled-immigrants-act-2019/”
>
http://mshahlaw.com/ira-kurzban-fair…ants-act-2019/
</a>
</p>
</div>
<div id=”4″>
<p>
<a
href=””
name=”[4]”
title=””
>
[4]
</a>
<a
href=”https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/455388-the-fairness-for-high-skilled-immigrants-act-is-anything-but”
>
https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-b…s-anything-but
</a>
</p>
</div>
<div id=”5″>
<p>
<a
href=””
name=”[5]”
title=””
>
[5]
</a>
<a
href=”https://iiusa.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/E-Pluribus-Unum.pdf”
>
https://iiusa.org/blog/wp-content/up…ribus-Unum.pdf
</a>
</p>
</div>
<div id=”6″>
<p>
<a
href=””
name=”[6]”
title=””
>
[6]
</a>
Such as a recent event for Representative Hakeem Jeffries
<a
href=”http://mshahlaw.com/city-hill-eb-5-dialogue-congressman-hakeem-jeffries/”
>
http://mshahlaw.com/city-hill-eb-5-d…keem-jeffries/
</a>
</p>
</div>
</div>
<hr/><h4>
<a name=”bio”></a>
About The Author<br/>
</h4>
<!–AUTHOR BIO START–>
<a href=”http://mshahlaw.com/about-us/” target=”_blank”>Mona Shah, Esq.</a> Born in the UK, Mona graduated from the University of Northumbria in England (UK) in 1990. Mona was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales in 1993 and was admitted to the New York Bar and the United States Federal Bar in 1997. While in England, Mona trained with various firms before her appointment as a Crown Prosecutor with the British Crown Prosecution Service. After moving to New York, she established Mona Shah & Associates Global (MSA Global) in 1997. Mona has over 26 years of legal experience.
A part-time adjunct professor at Baruch College, CUNY University, Mona is a published author, a Lexis Practice Advisor and co-editor of the Trade & Invest Magazine (BLS Media). Mona regularly speaks worldwide, interviewed by mainstream news channels, including Fox Business News, Al Jazeera and quoted in major newspapers, including the New York Times. Mona is a member of the Presidential Advisory Board of IIUSA, and hosts the first EB-5 podcast series (88+ episodes).
<hr/>
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