Senators criticise visa programme pushed by Kushner's sister in China

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner. Photo / AP

US Senator Dianne Feinstein said that an effort by the sister of senior White House adviser Jared Kushner to offer US visas to Chinese investors is a "stark conflict of interest" and called for the programme's elimination.

Nicole Kushner Meyer at the weekend appeared at an event urging Chinese citizens to invest US$500,000 each in a New Jersey luxury apartment building that her company plans to develop.

Jared Kushner previously oversaw the project until he left the company earlier this year to be a senior adviser to President Donald Trump.

Meyer's connection to Kushner was mentioned during the sales pitch, and the company said yesterday that it "apologises if that mention of her brother was in any way interpreted as an attempt to lure investors".

Feinstein, a California Democrat, had introduced legislation earlier this year with Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, that called for the EB-5 visa programme to be eliminated. Other members of Congress had put forward a proposal to overhaul the programme, including raising the minimum investment from US$500,00 to US$1.3 million.

However, with the programme set to expire, Congress last week extended it without instituting reforms. Trump, who has called for strict enforcement of immigration laws, signed the extension as part of a massive spending bill.

Meyer then gave her presentation in Beijing. The Washington Post reported that a speaker at the conference told the Chinese to "Invest early, and you will invest under the old rules".

The Obama Administration had proposed a number of programme changes, including raising the minimum investment. The Trump Administration could decide to implement those changes, or come up with its own. A White House official said yesterday that the Administration plans to review the programme and might propose changes.

Feinstein said that the programme is "rife with fraud and abuse" and has been "exploited by real estate developers to finance projects in the wealthiest parts of this country," even though it was designed to boost rural and distressed urban areas.

The programme requires that a US$500,000 investment result in at least 10 jobs. An investor is allowed to live in the United States and after two years can become a permanent resident.

Feinstein expressed outrage at reports that Kushner's name was invoked at the Beijing conference and that Trump's picture reportedly was shown. She said that "presents a stark conflict of interests for the Trump White House". She said the only way to eliminate the conflict is to allow the programme to end when the spending bill expires at the end of September.

Grassley said that the programme "must be reformed or scrapped entirely," noting that it had been extended "without needed reforms". He urged the Administration to come up with a proposal to address the programme's "well-documented flaws".

Among the projects partly financed with EB-5 funds is a Kushner property jointly developed with the Trump organisation called Trump Bay Street in Jersey City. It received US$50 million in EB-5 money.

A projector screen shows footage of US President Donald Trump at a reception desk during an event promoting EB-5 investment in a Kushner Companies development in Shanghai, China. Photo / AP