If each of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States had $500,000, they all could have a path to citizenship, through a controversial program that’s up for Congressional renewal at the end of September.

EB-5 is an immigration program in which wealthy people from different countries invest at least $500,000 in a U.S. business or development project, which is supposed to create 10 jobs, and in return get a green card, or legal permanent U.S. residency, for themselves and their families.

Unite Here, Local 30, a San Diego hotel workers union, joined a national day of action on Tuesday against the so-called “$500,000 Green Card” considering it “Immigration Reform for the 1%.”

Hospitality industry workers met at the Unite Here Local 30 office to specifically focus on The Pendry, a 317 room hotel under construction in the Gaslamp Quarter scheduled for completion in summer of 2016. If the project goes through as planned, it would give 112 investors their green cards, and would create a total of 1,120 jobs –either direct, indirect, or induced.

“But because there is no requirement that jobs created by regional center projects be good, family-sustaining jobs, we are concerned that this hotel development could mean more low-wage jobs in the hospitality industry,” said Local 30 spokesperson Alexis Olbrei.

A Local 30 member and cook at the Hotel Del Coronado, Ricardo Pulido spoke during the press conference on Tuesday.
“I am very grateful to have had a pathway to citizenship but I have family and friends who have been failed by the current U.S. immigration system,” he said. “They will not benefit from the EB5 program through jobs, legalization, or citizenship. What are we going to do for working immigrants?”

Each year, around 10,000 wealthy investors continue jumping ahead of the immigration line through the EB5 program. The Department of Homeland Security has approved 20,778 EB5 green card petitions since 2008. The pace of applications submitted has accelerated dramatically, with 10,928 petitions filed in 2014, up 769 percent from the number filed in 2008.

“U.S. developers get cheap financing. Rich immigrants get green cards,” said Maria Elena Durazo, Unite Here’s vice-president for Immigration, Civil Rights, and Diversity. “But millions of immigrant workers are left with no path to a better job or a better life. Almost everyone without $500,000 is stuck.”

Coordinated protests took place on Tuesday at EB5 projects in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle.

San Diego County is home to the seventh largest undocumented immigrant population in the country.

As Congress prepares to renew the EB5 regional center program next month, Olbrei said that “Unite Here and immigrant advocates are taking action, saying immigration reform should benefit all –not just the 1%”

Olbrei added that “we think this story ties together the important issues of immigration reform and job creation in areas of economic need in a very relevant way.”