Golden Gate Global and other four leading EB-5 Regional Center operators, along with the EB-5 trade organization Invest in the USA (IIUSA), on May 24th 2022 collectively filed a lawsuit in the District Court for the District of Columbia(Civ.No.1:22-cv-01455) against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The five regional centers and IIUSA have jointly retained Klasko Immigration Law Partners and McDermott Will & Emery LLP to act on their behalf. The lawsuit challenges the unilateral deauthorization by USCIS of the over 600 designated regional centers existing at the time that the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (“RIA”) was enacted into law, as well as the USCIS interpretation of the RIA that requires every regional center to apply anew for designation and receive approval as such before commencing operations.
On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed into law the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (as part of H.R.2471 – Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022), that made changes to the EB-5 program and reauthorized the EB-5 immigrant investor regional center program. The new law reauthorized the regional center program through September 30, 2027. USCIS noted that the new law requires all entities seeking regional center designation to provide a proposal to comply with the new program requirements effective May 14, 2022. USCIS wrote in their FAQ announcement in April 2022: “Therefore, regional centers previously designated under section 610 are no longer authorized. The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 requires all entities seeking regional center designation to provide a proposal in compliance with the new program requirements, which will be effective on May 14, 2022.”
The plaintiffs contend that USCIS’s position is contrary to the plain meaning of the RIA and thwarts Congressional intent in enacting the RIA. As it says in the title of the portion of the law discussing regional centers (“SEC. 103. REAUTHORIZATION AND REFORM OF THE REGIONAL CENTER PROGRAM”), the law was intended to be a reauthorization and reform – not a termination or restart.
“We are putting our different business interests aside and joining forces to reach the common goal of protecting our clients’ rights and continuing to provide needed capital for economic development projects,” said the plaintiffs in a joint statement. “Through this action, we seek to protect the viability of this highly successful economic development and job-creating program, the regional centers that facilitate the program, and the foreign investors who participate in the program. We believe Congress intended to allow regional centers to immediately get back to the business of EB-5 – while at the same time working to bring themselves quickly into compliance with the new integrity and other requirements of the RIA. In fact, there is consensus within the EB-5 industry that Congress intended to have the Regional Center program back in business as soon as the RIA was in effect on May 15, 2022.”
USCIS’s incorrect interpretation would have wide-ranging, damaging effects on existing investors – astounding given the clear intent of the Congressional act was to protect current investors, given the many protections for current investors clearly stated in the act itself.
Collectively, these five long-established operators manage 26 regional centers across 21 states. Over the years, they have facilitated $5.3 billion in EB-5 investments, developing 143 projects across the country, which have created more than 190,000 jobs for U.S. workers. The EB-5 program has an overwhelmingly positive impact on the U.S. economy. According to the data collected and analyzed by IIUSA, between 2008 and 2021, the EB-5 Program helped generate $37.4 billion in foreign direct investment to create and retain U.S. jobs for Americans, all at no cost to the taxpayer.
We are respectfully asking USCIS to correct the course and make it once again possible for EB-5 applicants to invest in America.
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