An ABC News investigation revealed questionable activity in the EB-5 visa program, which allows immigrants who are willing to invest $500,000 in American businesses to skip to the front of the immigration line.
The report shows that Harry Reid pushed Homeland Security to expedite the processing of investors’ visas. But DHS whistleblowers “said their greatest concern was that political pressure to expedite the review process has led officials to grant visas to applicants who had significant red flags in their backgrounds.”
The report continues:
When the SLS Hotel chain sought to fund construction of a hotel on the Las Vegas strip using foreign investors, Reid and his aides urged immigration officials to speed up their review of the visa applicants, internal emails show. Each visa applicant approval meant another $500,000 could flow into the construction budget, and the developers were anticipating as much as $200 million from foreign investors.
Michael Vannozzi, then a top aide to the senator, wrote to say that a failure by immigration officials to push through approvals could cause the project’s major investor, JP Morgan Chase, to back out. Emails show Reid personally appealed to the then-head of USCIS, Alijandro N. Mayorkas, to give the matter his attention. Mayorkas, who has since been promoted to deputy secretary, responded to the request by saying he would take “a fresh look” at the issue.
What’s clear is that Reid is willing to look the other way when it comes to the protection and safety of the American people.