WASHINGTON--(BUSINESSWIRE)--Urban Equality NOW (UEN) today filed a lawsuit against both
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, and USCIS
Director, Leon Rodriguez. The suit is asking a federal court to establish
policies and procedures to ensure compliance from the Department of Homeland
Security and USCIS to the Immigration and Nationality Act, with respect to
immigrant investors and to uphold the law regarding Targeted Employment Areas
(TEA’s) in the EB-5 Regional Center program. The program is up for
reauthorization on December 11, 2015.
“TEAs must, by law, have unemployment rates at least 150
percent of the nation's unemployment rate. Yet, oddly drawn TEAs are readily
accepted by USCIS in spite of the obvious gerrymandering involved,” says
Angelica Martinez, Director for Urban Equality NOW. “This defeats the purpose
of the program and allows projects to build in big money areas with low
unemployment, such New York City’s 'Billionaire’s Row,' instead of in depressed
areas that need the economic boost and jobs, which is what the program was
intended for.”
The suit, filed by Michael E. Coles, Lead Attorney for The
Coles Firm P.C., addresses the gerrymandering, an issue that has been much
discussed in the media, head-on. “We are calling for an immediate halt to the
misuse of the program, specifically the gerrymandering of the TEAs,” states
Coles. “Only those collections of U.S. Census Tracts, wherein aggregate unemployment
meets or exceeds the 150% threshold, should be granted applications.”
A Regional Center project in Laredo, Texas, is also cited in
the suit, which UEN and Coles shows demonstrates the complete and utter lack of
nexus between project location and its intended beneficiaries. “It is very
unlikely that someone living in Brownsville is going to commute by driving four
hours to the Laredo Convention Center. Yet the TEA that was submitted and
accepted is that far-fetched,” continues Coles. “This is a perfect example of
why the current TEA rules must be adjusted with significant reform.”
