Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog [9],
A major theme here at Liberty Blitzkrieg over the past year has been the creative ways in which corrupt Chinese oligarchs and government officials are maneuvering their way into the United States. To be clear, I am not anti-immigration by any stretch of the imagination. My mother was an immigrant. This is about being against corrupt and morally compromised individuals being welcomed here with open arms just because they have cash. We have enough domestic criminal oligarchs as it stands. These people have collectively captured the American political and economic system and control it to their own ends. Do we really need to import more of these types from abroad?
Did you know that there exists a federal Immigrant Investor Program that grants “EB-5″ immigration visas to foreigners who provide at least $500,000 to U.S. projects that create 10 or more American jobs? I wasn’t familiar with this, but apparently the good folks at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission are well aware of it, and are using it to raise $200 million.
Here’s what I’d like to know. Who are these investors and who vets them? It is a known fact that corrupt Chinese officials and businessmen are scrambling to get themselves and their money out of their homeland as the government cracks down on corruption. How many of them are going to use this program to get into the U.S., and what will be the long-term impact to our society? Important questions that must be asked, but most likely aren’t being taken seriously.
From Philly.com [10]:
Chinese investors have begun signing up to spend $500,000 each to help pay for a long-awaited connection between the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I-95.
In exchange, the investors hope to get permanent residency in the United States for themselves and their families.
The heavily indebted Turnpike Commission is borrowing the $200 million from foreign investors under the federal Immigrant Investor Program that grants “EB-5″ immigration visas to foreigners who provide at least $500,000 to U.S. projects that create 10 or more American jobs.
The foreign investors and their families will get a quick path to legal residence in the United States, though they may lose money on their investment.
The brokers and lawyers will collect millions in commissions and fees, with each of the 400 investors paying $50,000 to the dealmakers and $15,000 to the lawyers.
At least someone’s getting paid.
The first $50 million installment from the foreign investors is due to be paid to the Turnpike Commission by April.
The Berwyn company created to make the deal, the Delaware Valley Regional Center, expects to meet that deadline, said Joseph P. Manheim, its managing director.
“It is going as we had planned,” he said. “We are on track.”
The deal was suggested to turnpike officials by Turnpike Commissioner Pasquale T. “Pat” Deon Sr., a Bucks County restaurateur, beer distributor, and Republican power broker. Deon, who also is chairman of the board of SEPTA, saw SEPTA make a similar deal to borrow $175 million to pay for its smart-card fare-payment system in 2011.
Similar EB-5 foreign-investor deals have provided funding for the Convention Center, the Temple University Health System, and the Comcast Center.
The turnpike deal was created by Manheim and other officials of the Swarthmore Group, a Philadelphia investment-management firm headed by James E. Nevels, a prominent Republican donor and fund-raiser.
As I mentioned at the top, this has been a theme on the site all year. Check out these previous posts on the topic:
Chinese Purchases of U.S. Real Estate Jump 72% as The Bank of China Facilitates Money Laundering [13]
Zillow Opens the Floodgates to Chinese Buyers in Order to Keep Housing Bubble 2.0 Inflated [14]
Corrupt Chinese Politicians are Buying Billions in U.S. Real Estate [15]
Here’s the best part. You ready for this one…
Nevels is chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and was the first chairman of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission, appointed by Republican Gov. Mark Schweiker. Nevels is also a former president of the Pennsylvania Society, the organization best known for its annual Manhattan gathering of Pennsylvania politicians, lobbyists, and business people.
Naturally, a member of the Federal Reserve System would be somehow involved in this scheme. When bankers run into trouble, these clowns don’t waste any time in coming up with trillions in backstops and bailouts. However, when American plebs need a highway, we have no choice but to get on our knees and grovel to the Chinese.
