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Companies Still Using Jared Kushner’s White House Ties To Recruit Chinese Investors

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Will Racke Immigration and Foreign Policy Reporter
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Firms are still touting Jared Kushner’s White House ties in their sales pitches to Chinese investors, even after Kushner Companies apologized last month for using his name in promotional materials.

References to Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior advisor, appear in the online promotional materials of two firms that have partnered with Kushner Companies on the 1 Journal Square luxury apartment project in Jersey City, N.J. The companies are trying to convince Chinese investors to pony up at least $500,000 in exchange for an EB-5 visa, which gives legal residence to wealthy foreigners that contribute funds to job-creating projects in the U.S.

CNN reported Friday that one firm, Florida-based US Immigration Fund, publicized the project in Chinese, referring to Kushner Companies as “real estate heavyweights” and explaining that “the celebrity of the family is 30-something ‘Mr. Perfect’ Jared Kushner, who once served as CEO of Kushner Companies.”

Qiaowai, a Chinese company, posted a webpage to the popular social media site WeChat that mentions President Donald Trump and his supposed support for Kushner Companies’ EB-5-funded projects.

“Even some members of Trump’s family have participated in the growth of the EB-5 program,” the post explained, adding that “Given this, in the Trump era, the EB-5 program is likely to receive support and be expanded.”

The EB-5 program has come under fire from critics who say it allows wealthy foreigners to obtain U.S. citizenship in exchange for investments in already prosperous communities. It has also been particularly susceptible to massive fraud schemes in which U.S.-based real estate developers collect millions of dollars from unsuspecting foreigners for projects that never materialize or were outright fabrications from the start. (RELATED: Wealthy Chinese Have Spent Billions Of Dollars On Thousands Of ‘Golden’ US Visas)

The Kusnher Companies have used the EB-5 program to partially finance several projects, including Trump Bay Street, a mixed-use development also located in Jersey City. Michael Gibson, and EB-5 investment advisor, told CNN that the firms working with Kushner Companies want to use Jared Kushner’s name in their promotions because Chinese investors have more confidence in projects they think are backed by high-level government officials.

“They want to make sure they get the green card,” Gibson said. “So if they see a public official associated with the project that gives them the impression that this project is safe enough for them to invest in.”

US Immigration Fund has removed its WeChat post featuring Kushner’s name, CNN reported.

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