From the New York website: What do Chuck Schumer, Jeff Flake, John Cornyn and Pete Sessions have in common? This isn’t the beginning of a bad Capitol Hill joke. The four lawmakers all championed an extension of the controversial EB-5 visa program in Congress, and they all received major donations from the industry benefiting most from such an extension – real estate. The findings, based on data from campaign finance watchdog site OpenSecrets, illustrate the ever-expanding role of industry money in U.S. politics. Schumer, New York’s senior senator, received $1.09 million in campaign donations since 2011 from real estate interests. His fourth-largest individual donor was Fragomen, a firm that claims to be “the world’s leading immigration firm” and has donated $82,200 to Schumer’s campaign committee. Fragomen has a prominent EB-5 practice, and on its website claims to be “at the forefront of any current or impending changes made to the legislation.” Schumer’s donor list also includes Related Companies and Silverstein Properties, two development firms that have raised serious cash through the EB-5 program. On Tuesday, Congress renewed the EB-5 program, which gives foreigners green cards in exchange for their investments in job-creating U.S. projects. The program has been widely criticized for funneling cash to luxury real estate projects in prime urban neighborhoods, rather than in low-income areas.
