Coburn letter

The buzz this week has been over a letter sent by U.S. Senator Tom A. Coburn (R. Oklahoma) to all Regional Centers with content as follows:

As Ranking member of the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has oversight over the Department of Homeland Security, I am writing to learn more about ___ Regional Center’s participation in the EB-5 immigrant investor program. Every Regional Center approved by USCIS will receive a similar request to help the Committee better understand the EB-5 program. To understand more about ___ Regional Center, please provide the following information by March 13, 2014 in an electronic format:

• Any approval from USCIS to participate in the EB-5 program regarding the regional center and its business plan, including any subsequent recertification;
• The total annual amount of investment and the number of individuals by country of origin making investments through the regional center since it has been in operation;
• The name, address, and a description of each business in which the regional center has made an investment of funds and the number of jobs created by each investment;
• Any fees charged to EB-5 applicants or received by the regional center, including amount and description;
• A list of any current or former corporate officers of the regional center, including title, position, and dates of employment, and
• The name and address of any individual or entity- either foreign or domestic- that the regional center has an agreement with to provide legal, accounting, recruiting or consulting services, as well as a description of the service provided.

Feelings are mixed about this. It’s nice to see Congressional concern and attention, and I’m a long-time advocate of transparency about Regional Center backers. But one wonders why Senator Coburn decided to circumvent USCIS, which implemented the I-924a annual reporting process to collect similar information from Regional Centers to report to stakeholders such as Congress. Also, what Senator Coburn, not being a well-known friend of immigration, intends to do with the responses he receives. IIUSA has referred its members to two relevant articles: “MINORITY RULES: WHY COMPANIES SHOULD TAKE SERIOUSLY THE INCREASING TREND OF MINORITY PARTY-LED CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATIONS” by Steven R. Ross, Raphael A. Prober, and Megan L. Greer, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, and A Client’s Guide to Congressional Investigations Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. Also see Ron Klasko’s post on this topic.