Last week Trump announced his plan to create the Gold Card, a five million dollar path to lawful residency in the U.S. This program will replace the existing EB-5 immigrant investor program, which requires a minimum investment into a commercial enterprise and the creation of at least 10 jobs. Although similarly designed to bolster national wealth, the Gold Card will seemingly hold no such conditions past the initial fee. It’s a means to attract rich people for their own sake, with no guarantees of overall development for American citizens. The initiative has reportedly garnered a lot of interest, unsurprisingly given Trump’s promised tax cuts and general pandering to America’s upper class. 

In light of Trump’s ultra-aggressive immigration politics, this plan to open new paths to citizenship comes off as distasteful, to say the very least. Since the beginning of his presidency he’s dealt blow after blow to immigrants and hopefuls at the border, through mass deportations and the termination of birthright citizenship. He justified these devastating measures through hateful rhetoric, painting a picture of the U.S.’s immigrant population as a violent, rapist, drug-dealing, pet-eating demographic. Trump incessantly bringing up these claims, despite them being completely debunked, underscores the blatant classicism of his views. Nonetheless, a big part of his political success now hinges on his position as the fixer of this manufactured security problem. These supposed foreign criminals are a top worry for Trump’s voter base, who press their support for even the most abhorrent means to get rid of them. 

It therefore comes as a bit of a surprise Trump’s supporters haven’t batted an eye at the Gold Card. The program has immense potential to attract high-profile foreign criminals. It presents an opportunity for corrupt politicians, oligarchs, and business elites to evade prosecution in their home countries by securing legal residency in the U.S. Unlike traditional immigration pathways that involve rigorous background checks and financial scrutiny, the Gold Card's emphasis on wealth over due diligence could create a loophole for high-profile felons. For only 5 million dollars, these figures may launder both their money and their reputations, gaining a legal foothold in the U.S. while avoiding extradition or accountability. 

These concerns are founded in precedent. Similar golden visa programs have already been launched, and ultimately shut down, in Europe. Amongst others, Spain, Cyprus, Malta and Ireland all scrapped investment citizenship over security concerns. In 2020, the Cyprus Papers investigation exposed corruption in Cyprus's Investment Program, revealing that officials were willing to grant passports to convicted criminals, leading to the program’s abolition. More recently, Operation Destabilise uncovered abuses in Malta’s Citizenship by Investment Program, where individuals linked to organized crime—such as Russian national Semen Kuksov—obtained citizenship to facilitate money laundering. 

These concerns have been voiced at the Oval Office, and have been met with meager reassurance. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick affirmed that applicants would have to go through a vetting process “to make sure they’re wonderful world-class citizens”.  But who and how will determine this hasn’t been shared yet. And if Trump’s relations are at all indicative, the Gold Card is likely to be offered to some unsavory people. A convicted felon himself, Trump and his entourage have generally been pretty loose with the worst of people. His first presidency saw a number of high-profile pardons granted to individuals convicted of financial crimes, fraud, and political corruption, such as Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman with deep ties to pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarchs.  Figures like Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who were involved in efforts to dig up dirt on Joe Biden in Ukraine, had criminal backgrounds and were later convicted of campaign finance violations. Even without the Gold Card, the change in political climate brought on by Trump has already attracted questionable figures to America. Just last week, Andrew and Tristan Tate returned to the United States after being detained in Romania for over two years on charges including rape, sex trafficking, and money laundering. Theirrelease was allegedly influenced by an intervention from diplomat Richard Grenel, who is reported to have expressed support for the Tate brothers in a meeting with Romanian officials.

All in all, the Gold Card program stands as a glaring contradiction to Trump’s earlier rhetoric about immigration. The idea that Trump is a morally loose individual is nothing new, but this proposed measure reveals a new level of hypocrisy. Through deceit and bigoted politics, it seems he’s modeling the country after himself —where wealth, privilege, and personal gain take precedence over ethical standards and fairness. With the Gold Card coming soon, Trump’s voters should start worrying about a higher caliber group of criminals.