🎬Gold cards

The US passport is officially up for sale, and it’s a hefty sum

President Donald Trump wants to put the green back in “green card.” This week, he announced plans to grant permanent residency with a citizenship pathway to deep-pocketed foreigners willing to hand Uncle Sam $5 million—an immigration option he dubbed the “gold card.”

The idea of doling out green cards for greenbacks is not new: The US already has the EB-5 visa, a program that gives international investors and their immediate family members green cards if they invest at least $800k into a US business that creates 10 full-time jobs. And dozens of countries offer similar investment-immigration programs, including sought after destinations like Austria, Switzerland, and Greece.

But the gold cards are different: “Aspiring Americans” would pay $5 million directly into federal coffers as opposed to investing in a US business. That is a steep entry fee, especially when weighed against dozens of cheaper golden visa or citizenship options around the globe:

• Italy offers a path to permanent residency in exchange for investing as little as $260,000 in a local startup.

• A relatively humble investment of $62k is enough for permanent residency in the European Union nation of Latvia.

US Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick said that the gold cards will roll out in two weeks, while deriding EB-5 visas as lacking proper oversight and yielding dubious results. Lutnick joined Trump at a press conference to tout the $5 million fee as boosting government revenues and helping to reduce the deficit, while infusing the economy with jobs and taxes paid by Forbes list newcomers.

But the gold card would be an unprecedented experiment, and questions are swirling about the plan’s legality and how it would differ from the status quo system for welcoming moneyed migrants. -BO.

The 97th Academy Awards

Even though it feels like we were just watching “Oppenheimer” sweep and Billie Eilish’s “Barbie” track was making us weep, it’s time for another Academy Awards.

Going into the evening, Netflix’s drug cartel musical “Emilia Pérez” leads with 13 nominations, followed by “The Brutalist” and “Wicked” with 10 each. “The Brutalist,” from director Brady Corbet, stars Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones as Hungarian refugees who come to the US after WWII. The film, which won big at the Golden Globes, was previously embroiled in controversy over its use of artificial intelligence in dialect, with Corbet giving an assertive defense of his performers amid the debate.

“Wicked,” meanwhile, has had a hard time turning the blockbuster audience vote into awards recognition. The musical from director Jon M. Chu is nominated for best picture. Stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are also up for individual honors, with the latter set to achieve EGOT status if she wins in the best actress category.

The ceremony is still ongoing at the time of writing this newsletter, so good luck to all the nominees, the full list of which is available here.

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