WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Association of University Professors and a group of immigrant professionals today filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s “Gold Card” visa program, which unlawfully sells U.S. residency to wealthy individuals while pushing aside scientists, researchers, engineers, and other outstanding professionals whom Congress directed the system to prioritize.

The lawsuit targets a program set up in response to a Sept. 19, 2025 Executive Order that makes individuals eligible for EB-1 and EB-2 immigrant visas based solely on payments of at least $1 million by individuals or $2 million by corporations, and disregards whether they meet Congress’s merit-based requirements. Administered by the Departments of Homeland Security, State, and Commerce, the program illegally converts employment-based visa categories designed to bring the best and brightest to the U.S. into a payment-based fast lane, the complaint explains.

By diverting limited visa numbers and agency resources to those who can pay for expedited treatment, the program threatens to lengthen wait times and deny opportunities to qualified professionals waiting in line. The lawsuit asks the court to declare the Gold Card program unlawful and to halt its implementation.

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

“Congress created a clear, merit-based framework for employment-based immigration, with strict limits on who qualifies and how visas are allocated,” said Sarah Wilson, Partner and Federal Litigation Practice Leader at Colombo & Hurd. “The Gold Card program attempts to bypass that system by treating wealth as a substitute for statutory eligibility and, in doing so, it harms the scientists, researchers, and professionals who have played by the rules and waited their turn. When visas are capped and backlogged, creating a paid fast lane inevitably pushes qualified people further back.”

“Forget ‘give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.' Donald Trump's maxim is give us your money, your oligarchs and your privileged few when it comes to his Gold Card program that is illegal. Once again, the President is overstepping his authority and attempting to reshape our country to serve the wealthy rather than the people,” said Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), Co-Founder and Executive Chair of the Democracy Defenders Fund. “America was built on the promise of opportunity and merit, not on who can write the biggest check. This administration is trying to turn our immigration system into a playground for the highest bidder and push aside the scientists, engineers, innovators, and others who can improve and enrich all our lives.”

“This case concerns yet another of the many instances in which this administration is defying federal statutes to advance short-term policy preferences,” said Allison Zieve, director of Public Citizen Litigation Group. “It also concerns yet another of the many instances in which this administration is defying the Constitution, under which no administration—and no president—is above the law.”

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the American Association of University Professors; Rodrigo Cerna-Chavez; William Daniel Moscoso-Barrera; Yu-Ting Tsai; Aldo S. Estrada-Montaño; Ma. Elena Hernández Cepeda; and Richmond Djorgbenoo, by Democracy Defenders Fund, Colombo & Hurd, and Public Citizen Litigation Group.

Read the complaint HERE.

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Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state, and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.

Colombo & Hurd is a leading U.S. immigration law firm representing high-skilled professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, institutions, and employers. The firm’s federal litigation practice is focused on challenging government actions that prevent the lawful immigration of professionals to the United States.

Public Citizen Litigation Group is the litigating arm of the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. For more than 50 years, the Litigation Group has litigated cases in the public interest, to advance health, safety, democracy, and the rule of law.