EB-5 Program Applauded During Senate Judiciary Hearing

During the week of February 11, 2013, as part of President Obama’s agenda for his second term in office, the Senate Judiciary Committee of the 113^th Congress hosted its first hearing on comprehensive immigration reform. A diverse group of witnesses testified on the U.S. immigration policy, and the EB-5 Program was referenced numerous times. Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), a program sponsor who led the push to extend the program in 2012, applauded the program during his speech opening, and specifically requested collaboration from Janet Napolitano, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, on improving the administration of the Program. Republican Senator Jeff Session of Alabama also discussed the EB-5 Program as an example of U.S. immigration policy that emphasizes American economic interests. Steve Case, President of Revolution, LLC and founder of America Online (AOL), praised the program for its nationwide economic impact. The EB-5 Program is expected to produce $2.0 billion in capital formation for the Fiscal Year 2013. Changes to US immigration laws have taken a front seat in Congressional and Presidential speeches, as both the Senate is working to devise legislation and President Barak Obama is pushing for support from congress and the public. During Obama’s inaugural address Monday, January 20, 2013, he focused on the subject, explaining “Our journey is not complete until we find a way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity, until bright young students and engineers are listed in our workforce instead of being expelled from our country.”作为美国总统奥巴马工作日程的一部分，2013年2月11日这周奥巴马第二个任期内，第113届美国参议

院司法委员会举行移民法案听证会，开始讨论全面改革移民法案的问题。在场人士对美国移民政策进

行了探讨，EB-5方案被数次提及。听证会主席帕特里克·莱希(Patrick Leahy)在其演讲中积极肯定了该

方案，并请求美国国土安全部秘书珍妮特·纳波利塔诺(Janet Napolitano) 的紧密合作，加强该方案的

管理。帕特里克曾为2012年EB-5法案延期做了大量推动工作。阿拉巴马州共和党参议员杰夫(Jeff) 也

就EB-5示例，希望通过移民政策来促进美国经济发展。美国在线(AOL)的创始人史蒂夫·凯斯也大力称

赞该方案，赞许其为美国经济发展做出的贡献。EB-5移民法案预计在2013财年创造20亿美金。因参议

院正研究设计立法以及奥巴马总统正敦促来自国会和公众的支持，美国移民法案改革在国会和总统的

讲话中屡次提及。在奥巴马总统2013年1月20号的就职典礼中，他强调“在我们找到更好的方式之前，

工作仍不算完成。对想移民美国的人们来说，美国仍是最佳选择并可提供良好机遇。我们希望有为青

年和工程师加入我们，而不是被驱逐出我们国家。”