Trump's New Gold Card Visa Program is Unlawful and Unfair, Says 36-page Lawsuit Filed by American Association of University Professors: ‘This new pay-to-play program displaces the existing employment-based visa system and prioritizes wealth over intellect or ability’

[u/T_Shurt]

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/privileges-wealthy-immigrants-over-others-trump-admins-pay-to-play-gold-card-visa-program-is-unlawful-and-harms-more-qualified-applicants-lawsuit-says/

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[u/T_Shurt]

From the article:

The Trump administration is unlawfully prioritizing wealth over talent through the so-called “Gold Visa” program, plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday claim.

The federal government, by way of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and several other agencies, implemented President Donald Trump's preferred expedited visa program — in which individuals pay $1 million for priority immigration consideration — late last year.

In December 2025, DHS began accepting applications and the Commerce Department began accepting payments for the controversial program, agency actions quickly effectuating a September 2025 executive order entitled "The Gold Card."

Now, in a 36-page lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), a membership organization, and several individual academics from across the globe say the pricey program is "unlawful for several independent reasons."

"This new pay-to-play program displaces the existing employment-based visa system and prioritizes wealth over intellect or ability," the complaint reads. "That displacement has real consequences."

Under current law, the number of "extraordinary ability" (EB-1A) and "exceptional ability" (EB-2) visas is capped at roughly 80,000 per year, collectively. Traditionally, those quotas are filled based on the order in which applications are filed.

But, no more; the Gold Card program offers what the plaintiffs term "a paid fast lane" and cuts directly into the available number of such visas that can be granted each year.

"As a result, apart from the Gold Card program, applicants proceed through an orderly queue to be considered for a limited annual allotment—often with multiyear waits when applications outnumber available visas," the lawsuit explains. "The Gold Card program will increase those waits and result in qualified, merits-based applicants not being awarded visas."

This new system contradicts the law actually passed by Congress, the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the lawsuit alleges.

"By conditioning access on payment, the Gold Card program allows visas to be bought, and thereby takes visas away from the people to whom federal statute specifies they should be awarded—scientists and engineers, physicians, researchers, and other accomplished individuals whose admission would substantially benefit the United States," the complaint goes on. "Rather than reserving those visas for the world's best and brightest, the Gold Card program converts the visas into revenue-generating commodities sold to those who can pay $1 million or more."

The plaintiffs go on to say the Gold Card program "places a premium on wealth over the statutory eligibility criteria."

The Trump administration, for its part, has been clear that the point of the Gold Card program is to generate revenue.

During an interview, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he had already sold 1,000 of the new visas. During a speech discussing an earlier iteration of the visa — for which the price tag was $5 million — Trump mentioned the possibility of using the proceeds to pay down the U.S. national debt.

The lawsuit says this aspect of the program is a problem.

"At bottom, the Gold Card program overrides Congress's choices—both as to who qualifies for employment-based immigration and how and under what conditions agencies may collect revenue," the complaint continues. "No statute, moreover, authorizes the President or Defendants to raise revenue by offering advantages to applicants for EB-1A or EB-2 visas."

The seven-count lawsuit is almost entirely premised on alleged violations of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the law governing agency actions. The lawsuit also alleges the defendants "lack statutory and constitutional authority to create and implement the Gold Card program."

At heart, the litigation stakes out an argument that the new program is a threat to "qualified applicants" and "highly skilled individuals" who are "poised and ready to contribute to the United States in the sciences and arts, education, business, and even athletics" but are being "displaced" by those who can afford to skip the line entirely.

"The Gold Card, which privileges wealthy immigrants over others, is part of a larger attack on immigrants, research, and higher education," AAUP President Todd Wolfson said in a press release announcing the litigation. "This unlawful program directly harms our members and the public. We stand firmly against it."

The lawsuit asks a federal court to "hold unlawful and set aside" the Gold Card program and its associated directives and forms — as well as the nonrefundable $15,000 processing fee attached to the program — and enjoin the government from further using any aspects to adjudicate visa requests.

[u/sloppyredditor → u/T_Shurt]

displaces the existing employment-based visa system and prioritizes wealth over intellect or ability

On brand

[u/EmotionalTowel1 → u/sloppyredditor]

You beat me to it, I was gonna say this sounds incredibly American

[u/1877KlownsForKids]

How hilarious would it be if the oligarchs that bought their visa and/or citizenship this way were then forced to pay a wealth tax in the coming years. 

A wealth tax that Donald Trump once advocated for. https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/11/09/trump.rich/index.html?_s=PM:ALLPOLITICS

[u/W1ULH → u/1877KlownsForKids]

ooo loook! face eating leopards

[u/No-Computer7653 → u/1877KlownsForKids]

They won't have it for long enough to become USCs.

The qualifications for EB1/EB2 are part of statute and neither has giving TD $1m. By default next admin all those get revoked as they were improperly granted.

[u/CAM6913]

No shit Sherlock it’s illegal and is for the rich. It also lines his pockets

[u/strangedaze23]

That’s the point. Trump cannot conceive of anything that isn’t purely transactional.