O P I N I O N :
B I L L
S . 1 5 0 1
Rethinking Targeted
Employment Areas in
Downtown Districts
by Elliot Winer
Armed with words like “loopholes” and “gerrymandering,”
critics of the EB-5 visa program have turned their attention
to capital from immigrant investors flowing into Targeted
Employment Areas, and the methods by which these “TEAs”
are determined. However, stating that the economic impact
of an EB-5 project in a TEA does not extend to nearby high
unemployment areas simply because the project itself is not in a
high unemployment area is an overgeneralization that does not
paint the full picture. Further, it discredits the work performed
by state governments in reviewing and approving an area to be
designated as a TEA, which is supposed to reflect the potential
economic impact and job creation that EB-5 projects will have
throughout the designated area.
The EB-5 visa program awards conditional green cards to
immigrants who invest $1 million in U.S. enterprises and
create 10 full time jobs for American workers. The minimum
investment amount is lowered to $500,000 if the enterprise is
in a TEA, which is a rural area or an area with 150 percent the
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national unemployment average, as defined by the Immigration
Act of 1990. The regulations provide that a state government
may designate a contiguous geographic or political subdivision
within its boundaries as a TEA, e.g. a group of census tracts,
based on high unemployment.
The jobs that are generated through EB-5 investments can
impact entire regions, not just the specific census tract in which
a project is located. States allow, at their discretion, requestors to
combine contiguous tracts to form TEAs. These areas reflect a
project’s projected job creation impact on the surrounding area.
A common criticism of TEAs is that EB-5 projects pop up
in areas that normally are not considered high-unemployment,
like downtown Seattle. However, downtown commercial areas
often show inherently lower unemployment rates and may have
relatively few residents. The areas surrounding EB-5 projects in
commercial districts, however, often do have higher unemployment rates.
Continued on page 48
EB5 INVESTORS MAGAZINE