David Bier

Washington, D.C.

Director, Immigration Studies at Cato Institute

@CatoInstitute Director of Immigration Studies. Cato, not CATO. "Beer," not Buyer. Libertarian. 🇺🇸🇺🇸

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Articles

Trump's Gold Card is a Good Idea in Theory

1 week ago | cato.org | David Bier

First, the President lacks the authority to grant gold card purchasers lawful permanent resident status in the United States. The Immigration and Nationality Act lists precisely which legal immigrants can obtain the coveted “green card,” which denotes permanent resident status. Whether anyone would have standing to sue to stop the issuance of the Trump Gold Card is a more complicated question.
Trump’s Gold Card Is a Good Idea in Theory

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | David Bier

For years, my organization, the Cato Institute has supported the idea of a price-based visa category. A sort of “gold card” in which an immigrant pays a fee in exchange for a visa that allows the immigrant to live and work legally in the United States “would create a dynamic, market-based, merit-based, relatively more economically efficient, and self-regulating system that would serve the ever-changing American economy,” wrote my colleague Alex Nowrasteh in 2019.
Immigrants, Housing Wealth, and Local Government Finances

1 month ago | cato.org | Jacob L. Vigdor |David Bier |Michael Howard

Immigration has increased sharply in recent years, and many people worry about its potential effects on government budgets. Many analyses have concluded that immigration is clearly a fiscal benefit to the federal government, but state and local effects can depend more on the particular circumstances in those areas.
Trump Isn't Policing Our Immigration and Customs Police

1 month ago | usnews.com | Sarah Turberville |John Roth |David Bier |Ilya Somin

President Donald Trump has repeatedly pledged to oversee “the largest deportation operation in American history,” urging Congress to ramp up funding for mass deportations and invoking a centuries-old wartime law to defend shipping off migrants accused of having ties to a Venezuelan gang to a notoriously brutal El Salvadoran prison.
Immigration, anti-immigration, Congress | Homeland Security Newswire

1 month ago | homelandsecuritynewswire.com | David Bier

IMMIGRATIONTrump’s New Immigration Ban: An Arbitrary, Discriminatory Legal Immigration RewritePublished 8 April 2025President Trump claims he wants a “merit-based” immigration system, but a system banning people based on their nationality is the opposite of merit-based. It is a national embarrassment. President Trump plans to rewrite—or, rather, write over—the Immigration and Nationality Act in the coming week.
Immigration, anti-immigration, Congress | Homeland Security Newswire

1 month ago | homelandsecuritynewswire.com | David Bier

IMMIGRATIONTrump’s New Immigration Ban: An Arbitrary, Discriminatory Legal Immigration RewritePublished 7 April 2025President Trump claims he wants a “merit-based” immigration system, but a system banning people based on their nationality is the opposite of merit-based. It is a national embarrassment. President Trump plans to rewrite—or, rather, write over—the Immigration and Nationality Act in the coming week.
Trump’s Gold Card Plan Has Benefits But Legal and Practical Obstacles

1 month ago | texasgopvote.com | David Bier

Authored by David Bier and originally published on cato.orgPresident Donald Trump is promising to sell green cards “with a path to citizenship” to one million or more immigrants who pay his administration a fee of $5 million. He plans to shut down the EB‑5 immigrant visa category for investors and replace it with what he calls the “Trump Gold Card.” He has stated that he is not asking Congress for legislation and plans to begin selling the cards in two weeks.
Trump Claims Dictatorial Powers on Immigration. Everyone Should Be Scared

1 month ago | cato.org | David Bier |Ilya Somin

Actual invasions trigger some extraordinary powers under the Constitution. The government – including state governments – can wage war, and the federal government can detain even U.S. citizens without charge or trial. That means Trump’s power grab over immigration policy could be one of the most dangerous in American history.
A New, Discriminatory, and Arbitrary Legal Immigration System Is Coming

1 month ago | alexnowrasteh.com | David Bier

President Trump plans to rewrite—or, rather, write over—the Immigration and Nationality Act in the coming week. This action would be an absurd affront to the Founders’ constitutional design, no matter how he chooses to do it, but Trump is reportedly planning to reinstate a system of nationality-based discrimination that Congress first adopted in 1924 before repealing it in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.
A Hearing with Sanctuary City Mayors

2 months ago | cato.org | David Bier

Unfortunately, the US immigration system was not designed to be followed. March 5, 2025 • Testimony Chairman Comer, ranking member Connolly, and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is David Bier.