WASHINGTON, D.C.—Democracy Defenders Fund, in cooperation with Colombo & Hurd and public interest law firm, Free Information Group, filed a lawsuit today against the Departments of Commerce, Homeland Security, State, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, challenging the agencies’ failure to release documents relating to the Trump Administration’s Gold Card Program.

The Gold Card program allows wealthy foreign nationals to buy residency and eventual citizenship in the U.S. for $1 million per person, displacing other visa applicants. Earlier this year, the organizations submitted Freedom of Information Act requests to the agencies seeking information on the development and implementation of the Gold Card visa program.

“Behind closed doors, this administration appears to be trying to turn our immigration system into a bazaar with the privilege of U.S. residency available to the highest bidder. Meanwhile they are cruelly cracking down on others who are drawn to our shores,” said Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), co-founder and executive chair of the Democracy Defenders Fund. “The American people deserve to know how this pay-to-play scheme came to be, how the Gold Card applications are processed and how the program adversely impacts qualified applicants whose work in the U.S. would benefit all of us.”

“Immigrant visas are not million-dollar Mar-a-Lago memberships,” said Kevin Bell, co-founder and partner at Free Information Group. “For months President Trump and Secretary Lutnick shifted their story about which foreign interests would benefit and who would suffer the cost. This litigation will reveal the true story. People may lie, records don’t.”

“Residency in the United States should not be reserved for the rich,” said Sarah Wilson, Partner and Federal Litigation Practice leader at Colombo & Hurd. "The public deserves to know whether the government is pushing aside qualified applicants in favor of a program that puts wealth ahead of merit."

The lawsuit asks the court to order the government to produce the requested documents. They were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Democracy Defenders Fund and Colombo & Hurd previously filed a lawsuit on behalf of the American Association of University Professors and a group of immigrant professionals challenging the program as an unlawful pay-to-play scheme. The organizations are challenging the program as it unlawfully sells U.S. residency to wealthy individuals while pushing aside outstanding scientists, researchers, engineers, and others whom Congress believed would benefit the U.S.

The lawsuit can be found 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.