Granted, the original EB-5 pilot program tended to have more of a one-to-one relationship between job creation and individual investments. There were no modifications to the job creation rule when the Regional Center program was introduced. However, the Regional Center program has allowed for the pooling of investments to help support projects with much greater economic impact and job creation.
Is the EB-5 program perfect? No. But, we invite you to show us any government program that is. Has there been any abuse of the program? Yes. Again, we invite you to show us any government program that hasn’t been.
The GAO report did not identify this as an abuse of the program. It was an observation about how prorating of job creation allocated to EB-5 investments relative to the overall capital stack would affect the program. It did not advocate for such a change.