TOP AT TORNEYS IN SPECI ALIZED FIELDS
ROBERT C. DIVINE
BAKER DONELSON | IMMIGRATION GROUP CHAIR
Rober t C. Divine chairs the
immigration group of Baker
Donelson with offices in 24 U.S.
cities, including Washington,
D.C. H e se r ve d fro m 20 0 4
through 2006 as chief counsel
and, for a time, acting director of USCIS. Divine is the author
of “Immigration Practice,” a 1,600-page practical treatise on
all aspects of U.S. immigration law. He served for seven years
as vice president of IIUSA, an industry association for EB-5
regional centers. He represents EB-5 developers, regional
centers, and individual foreign investors, balancing immigration
and securities considerations, and litigating when necessary.
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE
THE EB-5 INDUSTRY CHANGE
FOR A BETTER FUTURE?
Obviously, Congress needs to enact more visa numbers and
permanent regional center legislation. Limited increases in
minimum investment levels, restriction of TEA scope, sensible
integrity measures and protection for defrauded investors —
whether by legislation or regulation — probably would enhance
the program's political support. Fraudsters need to go away or
be punished severely, but SEC needs to be careful not to destroy
viable projects in seeking to protect investors. USCIS should
eliminate redeployment requirement after capital has been at-
risk in project for two years and otherwise must clarify the
parameters of required redeployment during increasingly long
waits for visa numbers.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING
WHEN IT COMES TO EB-5 LITIGATION
OR ADVOCACY?
Investors need to sue USCIS when it denies investors because
of its overly restrictive notions of "prohibited redemption" and
"debt arrangement," termination or change of a project's
regional center sponsor, "material change" prior to investors'
admission as a resident, and other reasons. Investors
increasingly are bringing litigation alleging misleading or unfair
treatment. The SEC may become increasingly aggressive in
enforcement against those involved in securities offerings. Our
securities, immigration enforcement and litigation teams are
experienced with all such litigation and are well positioned to
bring or defend litigation for individual investors, group
investors, regional centers and developers.
H. RONALD KLASKO
KLASKO IMMIGRATION LAW PARTNERS LLP | FOUNDING MEMBER
H. Ronald Klasko is the founding
member at Klasko Immigration
Law Partners LLP. His 25-member
EB -5 team has represented
thousands of investors, over 50
regional centers and numerous
developers. Klasko has served five terms as chair of AILA’s EB-5
committee and as a former AILA national president and general
counsel. Klasko was named the world’s most respected corporate
immigration lawyer by the Who’s Who of Business Lawyers. He
was invited by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on
the Judiciary to testify on immigration reform and by USCIS and
the Department of State to engage in training officers.
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE
THE EB-5 INDUSTRY CHANGE
FOR A BETTER FUTURE?
The EB-5 industry is in a plateau. The halcyon days of the past
8 to 10 years are in the rear-view mirror. They will likely not
reappear absent an increased visa number allocation, either by
legislation or litigation. The EB-5 industry of 2019 is
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EB5 INVESTORS M AGAZINE
characterized by long waiting lists, disillusioned investors,
searching for alternative markets, adjudication delays, failed
projects, filing before the anticipated investment amount
increase, short-term program renewals, regional center
terminations, smaller projects, increased litigation,
redeployment without guidelines and finding creative
alternatives for investors. The good news for the patient is that
I believe better times are likely ahead.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING
WHEN IT COMES TO EB-5 LITIGATION
OR ADVOCACY?
I gravitated to EB-5 because of the challenge to shape a new
immigration program and because EB-5 is a win-win program.
My first involvement was in 1991 when I traveled to Asia to
present direct investment opportunities to institutions that
represented Asian investors. I left EB-5 for several years when
the program lost its way, but I have been actively involved for
the last decade. The program is a rare example of a
government program that serves the purposes of attracting
foreign investment, creating jobs and allowing development
projects that lacked affordable capital to move forward.