American Ass’n of University Professors v. DHS

The Trump Administration has created and implemented a “Gold Card program” that alters how immigrant classifications, including the EB-1A “extraordinary ability” and EB-2 “exceptional ability” preference categories, are defined and how applications are processed. Under this program, the administration is treating a payment—which they term a “gift”—of at least $1 million by an individual, or $2 million by a corporation on behalf of an individual, to the Department of Commerce as “evidence of eligibility” for those statutory classes of visas. This new pay-to-play program displaces the existing employment-based visa system and prioritizes wealth over intellect or ability. That displacement has real consequences: Congress caps the number of EB-1 and EB-2 visas that can be issued each year and requires that they be allocated in the order in which applications are filed. As a result, apart from the Gold Card program, applicants proceed through an orderly queue to be considered for a limited annual allotment—often with multiyear waits when applications outnumber available visas. The Gold Card program will increase those waits and result in qualified, merits-based applicants not being awarded visas.

Representing the American Association of University Professors and a group of immigrant professionals, and co-counseling with Democracy Defenders Fund and the law firm Colombo Hurd, we filed a lawsuit challenging the Gold Card visa program. Filed against the Departments of Homeland Security, State, and Commerce, which administer the program, the complaint asks the court to declare the Gold Card program unlawful and to halt its implementation.