The Statue of Liberty’s New Message
As our ancestors passed the Statue of Liberty and entered Ellis Island, Immigration Center, they read the following words on a brass plaque.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
In an interview with David Mangum, President of the Energy Exchange, Mr. Mangum said that the Congressional changes to the U.S. Immigration Policy, may cause some observers to wonder if it might be more appropriate to modify the plaque to say:
“Give me your energetic, your rich,
Your wealthy entrepreneurs yearning to get richer,
The affluent business men of your teeming shore.
Send these, the well-educated elite to me.
I lift my lamp beside our closed door.”
Mangum is referring to the United States Immigration Service Policy, called the EB-5 Immigration Program. The EB-5 program allows a foreigner to effectively purchase citizenship in the United States by investing into the U.S. economy. Mangum said that, through the EB-5 Immigration Program, foreigners can simply invest their way to a U.S. Citizenship for as little as $500,000 cash and, in only a short while thereafter, become official U.S. citizens.
Congress created this employment based Visa Preference Category in 1990. This program is available to immigrants seeking to enter theUnited Statesby simply investing in a new commercial enterprise that will benefit theUSeconomy, and create at least 10 full-time jobs. The EB-5 investor can either create new commercial enterprise or invest in a trouble business.
To qualify for US Citizenship the immigrant must:
- Invest at least $1,000,000. (If the investment is made into an area that has been designated as a Targeted Employment Area, then the minimum investment requirement is only $500,000.)
- Benefit the U.S. economy by providing goods or services to U.S. markets.
- Create full-time employment for at least 10 U.S. workers.
- Be involved in the day-to-day management of the business.
Lately, with energy prices on the increase, the Energy Exchange has been approached by Regional Immigrant Center to provide energy investment opportunities that will take advantage of the EB-5 Immigration Program. Energy Exchange is there to help them set up and manage their own private oil company in the United States. Energy Exchange is a Multiple Listing Service (MLS), of various energy investment opportunities. The Projects listed on the Energy Exchange include Solar, Wind, Bio-fuels, Coal, Nuclear, Oil, and Natural Gas Projects. The Energy Exchange will assist the EB-5 investor with the set up of the new corporation and afterwards, assist with the ongoing management of the new company.
Mangum believes that the American petroleum industry offers a wide variety of safe and high-return investment opportunities that will satisfy the investment requirements for the EB-5 immigrants.
David Mangum is a Petroleum Engineer/Geologist/MBA and President the Energy Exchange in The Woodlands, Texas. The Energy Exchange is a Multiple Listing Service that connects energy projects with financial sources. The Energy Exchange is the oldest energy project listing service in the United States. The company’s website (www.EnEx.com) was the first website in the petroleum industry. The Company’s tag line is “If you don’t own oil wells, we will help you get some.”
By: Princess Grace J., Public Relation Specialist