Union, Democrats Seek Investigation into $207M Hollywood Development Paid for by 414 Chinese Investors

A high-end development in a Hollywood neighborhood is part of a government program that allows foreigners whose investment creates jobs to get an EB-5 visa — in this case, a $207 million dollar development paid for by 414 Chinese investors.

The Los Angeles Times reported that 16 Democrat members of Congress are taking the side of a local labor union that claims rich foreigners should not be getting green cards when the mostly immigrant workers who built the new construction do not have the same benefit.

The Times reported on the 32-year-old program, which was what funded the hotels and the events center:

The developer says it has met the program’s requirements for local job creation. It is accusing the union of raising false allegations to “strong arm” the hotels into clearing the way for the union to represent hotel workers, who aren’t unionized.

Union leaders say that the hotels didn’t create enough jobs and that the EB-5 program is unfair to local workers, especially immigrants, who need jobs and an equitable way to gain legal immigration status.

Under EB-5, foreigners who invest a minimum of $500,000 in a U.S. project that creates at least 10 local jobs qualify for a visa. The idea behind the program was to spur investment in the United States. EB-5 surged in popularity in the years after the 2008 financial crisis because local funding dried up, but it was later bogged down by reports of misuse and national security concerns.

“We are not going to cave,” Grant King, managing partner of Relevant Group, which was in charge of developing the Dream Hollywood, Thompson Hollywood and Tommie Hollywood hotels, and the Citizen News Hollywood events venue, said. “We didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Our members kill themselves at work and can’t get citizenship,” Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, which represents more than 32,000 workers in Southern California, said. “Wealthy people get green cards and it’s just not fair.”

The Times reported that the Democrats, including Reps. Luis Correa, Grace F. Napolitano, Brad Sherman, and Ted Lieu sent a letter last month to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which runs the visa program. So far, the agency has not responded to the letter.

In 1993 Congress added a pilot program that allowed investors to pool their money — like the hundreds of Chinese investors in this case. Congress renewed the pilot program every five years, but it expired last year.

Reauthorization and some changes to the pilot program are embedded in the social spending bill that is stalled in Congress.

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