Trump: Russian oligarchs eligible for $5 million residency 'gold cards'

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00:00A new pathway to citizenship comes as the Trump administration cracks down on immigration

00:05into the United States.

00:06The US president says he's to sell gold residency permits at a price of $5 million to so-called

00:13high-level people who create jobs.

00:16We're going to be selling a gold card.

00:25You have a green card.

00:26This is a gold card.

00:28We're going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million, and that's going

00:32to give you green card privileges plus.

00:34Would a Russian oligarch be eligible for a gold card?

00:38Yeah, possibly.

00:39Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people.

00:43It's possible.

00:44They're not quite as wealthy as they used to be.

00:49They're not as wealthy as they used to be.

00:51I think they could afford $5 million.

00:56More on that plan.

00:57Let's cross live now to Fraser Jackson, our correspondent in Washington.

01:02So Fraser, we heard there from Donald Trump, Russian oligarchs may be eligible.

01:07What more do we know?

01:09Yeah, this is going to be ringing alarm bells for people like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth

01:14Warren on the progressive side of the political side here in the United States who say that

01:19the oligarchy is already underway in America.

01:22Well, I think it's fair to say that this will be ringing alarm bells in their heads

01:26this evening.

01:27Donald Trump saying on Tuesday he wants to begin selling what he's calling a gold card

01:30for $5 million to foreigners who want to move to the U.S. and create jobs.

01:35Now, this gold card would give people green card privileges, which is the current card,

01:41which effectively is permanent residency in the United States.

01:44It also gives these people a pathway to citizenship in the United States as well, which, of course,

01:48comes with the added benefits of being able to vote and not just pay taxes.

01:53But he also said wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card.

01:57They'll be wealthy.

01:58They'll be successful.

01:59And they'll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot

02:03of people.

02:04And we think it's going to be extremely successful.

02:06Well, as you heard there, Donald Trump said the immigration program, which he said was

02:10legal, would be open potentially to possible Russian oligarchs.

02:14He said that they could potentially qualify for the gold cards.

02:18And he said that he expects this program to be up and running in about two weeks.

02:21Now, it should be noted that there is already a similar program in effect here in the United

02:26States.

02:27It's called the EB-5 immigrant investor visa.

02:30And if you remember, during the first term, Donald Trump said that he was going to be

02:33raising the minimum for that card from $1 million to $1.8 million.

02:38Well, that entire system has now been scrapped entirely and seemingly replaced by this gold

02:42card system, where the buy-in fee is effectively $5 million.

02:47It's also not only a U.S. kind of thing.

02:50We have seen this in multiple other countries around the world.

02:53It exists in Canada.

02:54It also exists in places closer to home in the UK, sorry, in the EU rather, like places

03:00like Spain, Portugal, and Malta as well.

03:02So nothing completely new here from Donald Trump, effectively just raising the bar that

03:07it costs to get into the United States.

03:09But the land about the oligarchy will likely be picked up upon by the more progressive

03:14parts of the United States political spectrum.

03:16Fraser Jackson, for now, thank you so much.

03:18That's Fraser joining us live from Washington.

03:22Well, he.

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