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Expert: EB-5 Investor Visa Program Can Be "Somewhat Opaque"

March 17, 2022 (1 min read)

Hugo Martín, Los Angeles Times, Mar. 14, 2022

"In an aging Hollywood neighborhood known for its dive bars, pawn shops and tattoo parlors, three luxury hotels and a private events center opened over the last five years, with the help of millions of dollars from Chinese investors. The developments — boutique hotels with rooftop pools and hip nightclubs — represented new life for a gritty area a few blocks from Hollywood’s fabled Walk of Fame. They are now mired in a dispute involving a powerful labor union and 16 members of Congress who have asked for a federal inquiry into the project’s financing. ... The program has sparked controversy because some developers have fraudulently taken the foreign investments and failed to develop the projects and the jobs that were promised, said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a Cornell University professor of immigration law. It is also a complicated program that “is somewhat opaque to the average person because they don’t see any direct jobs created,” he added."