Infrastructure Issue
The infrastructure in America is crumbling and it is becoming difficult even to find the signs of this problem.
- One-third of 614,500 bridges in America are over 50 years old.
- In 2016 in excess of 15,000 high hazard dams existed in the country.
- America is losing an unbelievable 2 trillion gallons of administered drinking water on account of a creaking supply system where more than 1 million pipes being used are over a century old.
- Power transmission and distribution lines which have a life expectancy of 50 years have already exceeded their capacity.
- 33% of all urban roads and in bad shape.
Report cards on the infrastructure created by the American Society of Civil Engineers for 2013 and 2017 rated the infrastructure in the United States at a poor D+ and estimated the cost of necessary repairs and upgrades at approximately $4.5 trillion which is more than four times the budgeted federal deficit of $1.1 trillion for the financial year 2020.
Read: Learning from other country’s investor programs | Policies
Connecting EB-5 With Infrastructure Funding
Fortunately, The United States does not need to look far to find another country which is using funds from immigrants as investments for improving its infrastructure. The island nation of St Kitts and Nevis created a Hurricane Relief Fund and invited investors to qualify for fast-track citizenship by funding its infrastructure projects.
What can the United States do to try finding infrastructure upgrades by using the EB-5 program?
As things stand, the program is serving as a source of cheap funding for real estate projects throughout the country. Rather than use the funds for commercial ventures it can be squeezed to fund the revival of infrastructure in the United States.
The Significant Investor VISA from Australia requires applicants to invest in venture capital funds. Portugal has a policy which encourages investors to fund green projects or to rehabilitate extremely old urban properties. Compelling investors to fund specific asset classes is rather popular in the world of investment immigration.
The United States offering EB-5 for a variety of infrastructure projects cannot be considered as a big deal. The most preferred destination for immigrants in the world would be perfectly justified to expect investors to formulate long-term value for qualifying for the valuable green card.
Secondly, a move of this type will settle questions about the EB-5 visa from naysayers that were enquiring whether it was really useful prominently. The move has the potential of stopping the flow of investments into random projects by identifying specific public infrastructure projects to assess the benefits of this program better.
Thirdly the change can end the gerrymandering and the misuse of the Targeted Employment Area Discount. The introduction of an Infrastructure Pilot giving investors the choice of opting for direct projects, public infrastructure projects or regional center projects will help to achieve this objective.
To ensure the flow of money towards critical infrastructure the requirements of minimum investment for these projects can be maintained at $1 million with increases introduced for direct and regional center projects.
Alternatively, investors affected by retrogression can be requested to make additional investments in infrastructure to jump the line and to avoid the decade-long processing delays.
Unlike other countries, the United States does not really need a program such as the EB-5 for attracting investments or immigrants. Considering this the US should look towards leveraging this option for resolving its infrastructure crisis.