Give Us Your Rich,Your Money

摘要

This summer's scenes of ragged Central American children and teenagers crammed into makeshift detention centers didn't exactly affirm Lady Liberty's invitation to "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Rest assured: Your well-rested, your rich, your coddled elites face their own difficulties opening the golden door to U.S. citizenship. Exhibit A is the dysfunctional U.S. program that's meant to grant foreign investors green cards in return for investments in new U.S. enterprises that create jobs. Here's how it's supposed to work: A foreign investor ponies up $1 million for a U.S. business that creates at least 10 full-time jobs within two years. Or the immigrant puts $500,000 in a venture located in a "targeted employment area"-certain narrowly defined rural areas or places where unemployment is 150 percent of the national average. In return, the investor (plus family) can apply for a green card. Every year, 10,000 visas are set aside for this.