TOP AT TORNEYS IN SPECI ALIZED FIELDS
AARON GRAU
GRAU & ASSOCIATES, LLC
Aaron Grau is the president of
Grau & Associates, a boutique
association management
c o m p a ny. I n 2 018 , h e
became the executive
director of Invest in the USA
and leveraged his companies’ management assets with
IIUSA’s professional team. As an attorney, a federal
lobbyist and an association executive, Grau worked with
his IIUSA colleagues to strengthen the association and
establish new relationships with other EB-5 industr y
stakeholders and congressional offices. Their collective
efforts have not only helped set the stage for meaningful
federal program reform, but also helped increase IIUSA’s
membership, expand its global footprint and reduce the
association’s annual costs.
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE
EB-5 INDUSTRY CHANGE FOR A
BETTER FUTURE?
I would like to see economic development professionals in
the U.S. seek out and collaborate with EB-5 professionals,
including regional centers and our foreign partners, as true
economic development partners. Immigrant investors’
funding can be among the strongest and most reliable in
any capital stack and they are the only investments
required by law to create jobs. The EB-5 program is not
only an immigration program. It is an economic
development program. The sooner the economic
development professionals in the U.S. embrace EB-5 as an
economic development tool, the sooner policy makers will
embrace EB-5’s value, and the sooner the logic of providing
more visas will become clear.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING WHEN
IT COMES TO EB-5 LITIGATION OR
ADVOCACY?
I see longer visa application processing times from USCIS,
juxtaposed with congressional efforts to improve the EB-5
program. Despite congressional professionals’ reception
to IIUSA’s efforts to educate congressional staff and
develop legislation to increase integrity measures to the
program, the work will stifle unless USCIS improve its
administrative protocols. I see USCIS lag months, even
years behind in fulfilling Freedom of Information Act
requests and timely processing visa applications. I hope I
see the openness and progress on Capitol Hill reflect in
USCIS’ habits for the sake of the opportunity the EB-5
program presents to U.S. workers, U.S. communities and
immigrant investors.
H. RONALD KLASKO
KLASKO IMMIGRATION LAW PARTNERS
H. Ronald Klasko heads
the E-2 and EB -5 investors
team at Klasko Immigration
L aw P a r t n e r s . H e a n d h i s
team have represented
thousands of investors, over 50 regional centers and
many U.S. developers. Klasko currently chairs AIL A’s
Administrative Litigation Task Force and served five terms
as chair of AILA’s EB-5 Committee. He is also a former
national president and general counsel of AILA. He is the
only person who has been honored twice with the AILA
Founders Award for his contributions to immigration law.
He has been selected in Best Lawyers in America for over
two decades. He is the North American representative of
the Investment Migration Council.
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE
EB-5 INDUSTRY CHANGE FOR A
BETTER FUTURE?
For the EB-5 industry to again thrive, at least 3 things have
to happen, only one of which we control. We need
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EB5 INVESTORS M AGAZINE
legislation to address unrealistic and unsustainable quota
delays. We need an administrative agency that views EB-5
as an important foreign direct investment and job creation
program and gives it appropriate priority. Finally, we need
to unify behind ameliorative legislation that significantly
increases compliance oversight and deters abuses
against foreign investors.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING WHEN
IT COMES TO EB-5 LITIGATION OR
ADVOCACY?
Unfortunately, the immediate future of EB-5 lies in the
courts. With completely unrealistic processing times for all
EB-5 related petitions, mandamus complaints in federal
court are often the only way to obtain adjudications. In the
absence of liaison, improper legal interpretations can only
be resolved in the courts. Our law firm and others are
litigating many of the issues that have resulted in
unprecedented denials of benefits in the EB-5 program. I
expect to see significant federal court decisions overcoming
unduly restrictive USCIS interpretations in the next year.