Trump signs 'gold card' order with $2M visa fee for companies

President Trump on Friday signed an executive order to set up a new visa pathway for expedited treatment, with a fee of $1 million for individuals and $2 million for a corporation to speed up the process of allowing employees to work in the U.S. legally.

Trump touted the policy as “sort of like a signing bonus in baseball and football.”

He lamented that the new fees would attract only the most highly-skilled workers, but the exorbitant amount also creates barriers for a majority of immigrant workers to be allowed to work in the U.S.

Trump estimated the gold card program will raise over $100 billion for the Treasury Department, “which we will used for cutting taxes and paying down debt." He did not detail how the fees would work to cut taxes.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick echoed Trump's sentiment that the new program will allow for the U.S. to “only take extraordinary people at the very top.”

“Instead of people trying to take jobs the from Americans, they’re going to create businesses and create jobs for Americans,” Lutnick said.

When asked about how tech companies, who rely heavily on highly-skilled immigrant workers, feel about the new fee imposed on employees and comapnies, Trump replied, “I think they’re going to be very happy.”

In June, the administration launched a website for those interested in a $5 million investor visa for the U.S. to sign up for early access to a newly created “gold card.” Trump earlier this year had pitched the gold card as a replacement of the EB-5 visa program.