EB-5 National Interest Projects: JTC’s Ed Smith on Making the Broader Case for EB-5

As the debate over EB-5 reauthorization intensifies, a new piece in IIUSA’s Regional Center Business Journal, co-written by JTC’s Edward Smith, argues that EB-5 national interest projects could be the program’s most powerful and underused advocacy tool.

As EB-5 reauthorization advocates push for an extension of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) grandfathering deadline in September 2026 and reauthorization of the EB-5 Regional Center Program beyond September 2027 (hopefully with a permanent version of the Regional Center Program), much of the focus is on three major areas: the jobs EB-5 has created over the years, the improvements the RIA made, and the benefits EB-5 projects bring to both investors and local communities.

While these are all valuable benefits of EB-5, a new article appearing in the Regional Center Business Journal, published by industry trade organization Invest In the USA (IIUSA), argues that EB-5 projects represent a compelling, and underused, dimension of the case for  EB-5 industry advocacy.

The RCBJ Article: Making the Case for EB-5 National Interest Projects

Appearing in the Spring 2026 edition of the RCBJ, “EB-5 Projects for the Benefit of Community and National Interests” was written by Ronald R. Fieldstone, Esq., partner at Saul Ewing LLP, and JTC Director – Institutional Capital Services Edward Smith, Ph.D. In it, they argue that more focus should be placed on EB-5 projects that deliver benefits well beyond the communities in which they are located.

“Recent examples of projects leveraging EB-5 investments demonstrate the role the EB-5 Regional Center Program can play in the expansion and promotion of EB-5 clean energy and supply chain independence, the improvement of critical aviation infrastructure, improvements to air quality and energy (and reducing congestion) through the creation of intermodal ports to distribute freight, and for supporting national health improvement initiatives through the development of rehabilitation facilities,” the article states.

From Clean Energy to Critical Infrastructure: The Projects Making the Case

The piece includes examples of EB-5 projects such as critical mineral extraction facilities supporting EB-5 clean energy supply chains, aviation infrastructure improvements, intermodal freight distribution hubs, rehabilitation facilities, and mining projects. The authors note that many of these projects are eligible for EB-5 expedited processing – a significant procedural benefit that some project sponsors may not realise is available to them – and explain why these project types are central to the push for EB-5 reauthorization.

Why This Matters for the Future of the EB-5 Regional Center Program

“It is essential for the EB-5 industry to promote not just projects that create jobs for the local community and support the local economy, but also highlight the projects that have much broader impacts on US infrastructure and national interests,” say Fieldstone and Smith. “Further emphasis on the wide range of benefits from EB-5 investments could prove instrumental to the future of the EB-5 Regional Center Program.”

The argument is a timely one for EB-5 industry advocacy: with reauthorization debates intensifying ahead of the 2027 deadline, demonstrating the full scope of what EB-5 projects deliver may prove as persuasive as any jobs data.

Read the full article in the IIUSA Regional Center Business Journal

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