The Government Shutdown Ends Today…Maybe – What is next for EB-5?
Two Proposed Government Shutdown-Ending Bills Coming
On Tuesday, January 22nd, 2019, the U.S. senate leadership announced an agreement to vote on two proposals to reopen the U.S. federal government. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell arranged two votes for the afternoon of Thursday, January 24th, 2019, both of which will require 60 votes to advance. The first vote will be on President Trump‘s proposal to reopen the government, provide $5.7 billion in funding for the border wall, and extend legal protections to some immigrants for three years. If that proposal fails, the Senate would then vote on a three-week continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through February 8th. President Trump’s proposal would support from every Senate Republican and at least seven senate Democrats in order to overcome a filibuster. No Democratic senator has stated they will support the proposal. Meanwhile, Democrats, who have 47 seats, will need 13 Republicans to advance the CR. The Senate previously passed a CR in December to provide funding for the quarter of the government impacted by shutdown through February 8th, however Trump prevented the measure from passing as it did not include additional funding for the proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Some Republican senators have suggested passing a three-week continuing resolution (CR) in exchange for the Senate Appropriations Committee agreeing to take up President Trump’s border request. However, that proposed solution has struggled to gain wide support and President Trump has publicly decline similar proposals. McConnell has stated that he will oppose the continuing resolution (CR) into February.
No Guarantee this Will End the Shutdown
There is no guarantee that either bill will pass and end the shutdown that has closed roughly a quarter of the government. Although McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer set up the two competing measures through unanimous consent, they do not agree on the path out of the partial shutdown. A Democratic aide said that the trade off was that in exchange for letting McConnell skip over an initial procedural hurdle, they got a 60 vote threshold related to their stopgap bill to temporarily reopen the government. Schumer thanked McConnell after he set up the votes and pointed to the Democratic proposal as a way out of the funding fight. “We have a Second Amendment that could break us out of the morass we are in. … For the first time, we will get a vote on whether to open the government without any decision one way or the other on border security,” Schumer said.
McConnell argued earlier Tuesday that the White House-backed proposal was the only option on the table that could end the stalemate because it’s the only measure Trump has endorsed. “The opportunity to end all this is staring us right in the face. That’s why we’ll vote on this legislation on the Senate floor this week. All that needs to happen is for our Democratic colleagues to agree that it’s time to put the country ahead of politics, take yes for an answer and vote to put this standoff behind us,” McConnell said. But Democrats have been trying to increase pressure for the careful GOP leader to break with the president in the funding fight, something members of his leadership team have said will not happen.
Attend the Behring Webinar Scheduled Directly After Shutdown Ends and EB-5 Continues
Everyone is asking questions regarding the shutdown, EB-5 and what to do next in their pursuit of a green card. Behring will be hosting a live webinar with top immigration attorneys present for investors to do a live Q&A session and get real-time updates on life after the Shutdown ends. A Replay of the event will also be available so please just subscribe on the registration page to ensure you are given permission to view the replay.
EB-5 Needs the Shutdown to Come to a Close to File New Investor Petitions
Because the EB-5 Regional Center Program is administered through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which is a part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the EB-5 Regional Center Program is unavailable while the U.S. federal government is shutdown. While the U.S. federal government is shutdown, prospective EB-5 investors can still complete preliminary activities of their EB-5 process such as reviewing regional centers and EB-5 project offerings, working with an immigration attorney to complete a source of funds report, or having their accredited investor status verified. Click this Scheduling Link or the Button Below to Set Up A Complimentary EB-5 Consultation with One of Our EB-5 Experts.
Sources: Information contained in this article was sourced from The Hill’s Article “Senate to vote on dueling government funding bills”, published by Jordain Carney on January 22nd, 2019, at 3:59 PM EST. The article can be found in its entirety here: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/426469-senate-to-vote-on-dueling-government-funding-bills