By Kathleen Pender Published 1:19 pm, Wednesday, November 4, 2015

en. Dianne Feinstein has called for an end to the controversial EB-5 regional center program that lets foreign nationals get green cards for themselves and their families if they invest at least $500,000 or $1 million in a U.S. business that creates or preserves at least 10 jobs.

The regional center program expires Dec. 11 unless Congress renews it. Other legislators called for reforming the program, but Feinstein appears to be the first to say it should end.

“At its most basic, the EB-5 program allows a foreigner to invest $500,000 in a U.S. business, in return receive a visa that puts them and their direct family on a special path toward citizenship,” Feinstein, D-Calif, wrote in an opinion piece in Roll Call Wednesday. “At the same time, individuals unable to buy their way into the country remain trapped in seemingly endless visa backlogs that often last more than 20 years. I believe the program is deeply unfair, sends the wrong message about this country’s values and is prone to fraud and abuse.”

The EB-5 program itself is not set to expire, only the regional center program. But regional centers account for more than 90 percent of visa applications submitted under the program.

Congress created the EB-5 program in 1990 to stimulate the economy. To get a visa, foreigners had to invest at least $1 million — or $500,000 in high-unemployment areas — in a business that created or preserved at least 10 jobs. But it got off to a slow start, in part because it was hard to prove job creation.

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