'Privileges wealthy immigrants over others': Trump admin's 'pay-to-play' Gold Card visa program is 'unlawful' and harms more qualified applicants, lawsuit says

The Trump administration is unlawfully prioritizing wealthiness implicit endowment done the alleged "Gold Card" visa program, plaintiffs successful a national suit filed Tuesday claim.

The national government, by mode of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and respective different agencies, implemented President Donald Trump's preferred expedited visa programme — successful which individuals wage $1 cardinal for precedence migration information — precocious past year.

In December 2025, DHS began accepting applications and the Commerce Department began accepting payments for the arguable program, bureau actions rapidly effectuating a September 2025 enforcement bid entitled "The Gold Card."

Now, successful a 36-page lawsuit filed successful Washington, D.C., the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), a rank organization, and respective idiosyncratic academics from crossed the globe accidental the pricey programme is "unlawful for respective autarkic reasons."

"This caller pay-to-play programme displaces the existing employment-based visa strategy and prioritizes wealthiness implicit intellect oregon ability," the ailment reads. "That displacement has existent consequences."

Under existent law, the fig of "extraordinary ability" (EB-1A) and "exceptional ability" (EB-2) visas is capped astatine astir 80,000 per year, collectively. Traditionally, those quotas are filled based connected the bid successful which applications are filed.

But, nary more; the Gold Card programme offers what the plaintiffs word "a paid accelerated lane" and cuts straight into the disposable fig of specified visas that tin beryllium granted each year.

"As a result, isolated from the Gold Card program, applicants proceed done an orderly queue to beryllium considered for a constricted yearly allotment—often with multiyear waits erstwhile applications outnumber disposable visas," the suit explains. "The Gold Card programme volition summation those waits and effect successful qualified, merits-based applicants not being awarded visas."

This caller strategy contradicts the instrumentality really passed by Congress, the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the suit alleges.

"By conditioning entree connected payment, the Gold Card programme allows visas to beryllium bought, and thereby takes visas distant from the radical to whom national statute specifies they should beryllium awarded—scientists and engineers, physicians, researchers, and different accomplished individuals whose admittance would substantially payment the United States," the ailment goes on. "Rather than reserving those visas for the world's champion and brightest, the Gold Card programme converts the visas into revenue-generating commodities sold to those who tin wage $1 cardinal oregon more."

The plaintiffs spell connected to accidental the Gold Card programme "places a premium connected wealthiness implicit the statutory eligibility criteria."

The Trump administration, for its part, has been wide that the constituent of the Gold Card programme is to make revenue.

During an interview, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said helium had already sold 1,000 of the caller visas. During a speech discussing an earlier iteration of the visa — for which the terms tag was $5 cardinal — Trump mentioned the anticipation of utilizing the proceeds to wage down the U.S. nationalist debt.

The suit says this facet of the programme is simply a problem.

"At bottom, the Gold Card programme overrides Congress's choices—both arsenic to who qualifies for employment-based migration and however and nether what conditions agencies whitethorn cod revenue," the ailment continues. "No statute, moreover, authorizes the President oregon Defendants to rise gross by offering advantages to applicants for EB-1A oregon EB-2 visas."

The seven-count suit is astir wholly premised connected alleged violations of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the instrumentality governing bureau actions. The suit besides alleges the defendants "lack statutory and law authorization to make and instrumentality the Gold Card program."

At heart, the litigation stakes retired an statement that the caller programme is simply a menace to "qualified applicants" and "highly skilled individuals" who are "poised and acceptable to lend to the United States successful the sciences and arts, education, business, and adjacent athletics" but are being "displaced" by those who tin spend to skip the enactment entirely.

"The Gold Card, which privileges affluent immigrants implicit others, is portion of a larger onslaught connected immigrants, research, and higher education," AAUP President Todd Wolfson said successful a property merchandise announcing the litigation. "This unlawful programme straight harms our members and the public. We basal firmly against it."

The suit asks a national tribunal to "hold unlawful and acceptable aside" the Gold Card programme and its associated directives and forms — arsenic good arsenic the nonrefundable $15,000 processing interest attached to the programme — and enjoin the authorities from further utilizing immoderate aspects to adjudicate visa requests.