U.S. District Court of the Northern District of
California orders immediate
re-start of EB-5 regional center program; enjoins USCIS from
deauthorization of EB-5 regional centers, enabling Behring to
accept new EB-5 investors
BLACKHAWK, Calif., June 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Behring Co., a
vertically integrated real estate developer and the operator of
Behring Regional Center ("BRC"), praised the U.S. District
Court of the Northern District of California's decision to issue a preliminary
injunction, setting aside the deauthorization of EB-5 regional
centers by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS").
Today's decision by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria held that USCIS almost certainly
committed legal error when it unilaterally deauthorized designated
EB-5 regional centers existing at the time that the EB-5 Reform and
Integrity Act of 2022 ("RIA") was enacted into law and required
regional centers to apply and receive approval for new designation
before allowing them to operate and accept new EB-5
investors. Read the decision here.
"Behring has made an exceedingly strong
showing that the agency violated the APA."
The court's decision means that EB-5 investors can file new
I-526 petitions now. The court's order enables Behring Regional
Center, and all pre-authorized Regional Centers, to sponsor EB-5
projects. USCIS is required to accept I-526 petitions filed by new
EB-5 investors that make qualified EB-5 investments through BRC.
BRC attorneys at Greenberg Traurig welcomed the decision: "We are
so pleased that the court recognized the true congressional
intent," said Laura Reiff,
shareholder at GT. "Existing regional centers can now operate and
accept new investors. This is a program that should be embraced by
the agency and the country as it brings much-needed revenue into
the US and helps with job creation."
Behring will be hosting a webinar discussing the EB-5 program
and the current updates in detail on June
27, 2022 at 4:00 PM PST.
View Webinar Registration
When challenging USCIS's unilateral cancelation of EB-5 regional
centers in April, BRC asserted that USCIS actions were contrary to
the plain meaning of the RIA. BRC further asserted that USCIS's
creation of new Forms I-956 and redesignation requirements violated
the Administrative Procedure Act because USCIS did not go through
notice-and-comment rulemaking. In granting BRC's preliminary
injunction, the court stated that "Behring has made an exceedingly
strong showing that the agency violated the APA. USCIS was almost
certainly wrong in assuming that the Integrity Act affirmatively
deauthorized existing regional centers, so the agency was almost
certainly wrong to announce that the centers are no longer
authorized." It agreed that BRC was likely to succeed on the merits
of its case and that USCIS was wrong to assume that the RIA
de-authorized existing regional centers. In recent weeks, Congress
also had signaled its support when sending letters informing USCIS
that its actions were against Congress's intent to restart the EB-5
Regional Center Program as quickly as possible after a 9-month
lapse.
"It is an amazing victory for EB-5 investors, and we look
forward to having the opportunity to go back to work creating jobs
and promoting economic growth," said Colin
Behring, CEO of Behring Regional Center LLC. With an
active EB-5 project that is already I-924 exemplar approved,
Behring investors will have the first opportunity to be eligible
for the new 2,000 visas set aside for high unemployment (Target
Employment Area) investments. Behring's EB-5 investment options
include lower risk debt-style investments and higher earning
preferred equity and common equity, all of which are open to
investors immediately.
About Behring Co.
Behring Co. is a vertically integrated real estate developer,
private equity fund manager, and EB-5 regional center serving the
San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon
Valley. Behring owns and operates the Behring Regional Center, a
USCIS accredited EB-5 regional center with 100-percent investor
approval history serving hundreds of investors since 2013. For more
information, please visit www.behringEB5.com.
Contacts
Colin Behring
cbehring@behringco.com
+1 925-575-9634
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SOURCE Behring Companies