Revitalizing Urban America Through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program

Abstract

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program was established by Congress in 1990 to spur economic development and job growth across the United States through foreign direct investment in American communities, job creation, and economic multipliers that stem from the migration of immigrant entrepreneurs and their families. To date, this program has been responsible for attracting billions of dollars of investment and creating thousands of jobs in the United States economy. This chapter analyzes the EB-5 Program as an economic development tool designed to revitalize urban America with capital raised from immigrant entrepreneurs. This chapter will provide an overview of the legislative intent of the EB-5 Program, which establishes the EB-5 Program as an important urban revitalization tool that can lead to positive social and economic outcomes. The author then examines an urban revitalization project in Brooklyn, NY, and argues that immigrant investors played a vital role in promoting sustainable economic development in and around the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a 300-acre industrial park located on the Brooklyn waterfront. This chapter closes with an examination of the future of the EB-5 Program and how policy changes could potentially impact the ability of the immigrant growth machine to continue to revitalize urban America.