Might be time to modernize the Stature of Liberty by replacing:
"Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"
With:
Buy a house; Get a visa.
In the fine print, as reported by Robert Johnson in Business Insider that's a $500,000 or more house. But it is an American Resident Visa.
In the latest demonstration of the wonders of bipartisanship, Senators Chuck Schumer (D, NY) and Mike Lee (R, Utah) will be proposing such legislation. An admission that there is a glut of high-priced houses in the US? Or are they only responding to pressure by lobbyists and campaign contributors (home builders, real estate brokers, and/or banks)? Ya, know, all those of or in service to the 1% that live by the rules of the free market and really, really aren't whining and demanding that government do something to help them clear out the excess inventory of houses that they created and there just aren't enough ordinary Americans that can afford them.
There appears to be no restrictions on location. Only price. So, who, what, and where is wide open.
How about a thirty-seven year old, ugly looking condo in Newport Beach for $501,700? Smaller but with far more curb appeal for $490,000 in San Francisco. But with half a million or more to spend, there's no shortage of great houses that are competitive with one can see on HGTV's House Hunters – International. A couple of years ago realtors were busing visitors from mainland China around southern California neighborhoods with lots and lots of available houses. The visitors were commenting on how cheap the prices were. Don't know if they made any sales. Then again they weren't throwing in US resident visas into the deal.
A grand scheme (not that any ever really exist) would have foreigners coming to America and scooping up the high-end houses that previous purchasers can no longer afford. The latter can then move down the housing ladder and assist those they displace to move further down, and so on until all houses are occupied and foreclosures only continue the Twenty-First Century ghost towns. And Presidents Bachmann/Cain/Gingrich/Paul/Perry/Romney/Santorum won't be able to shut down in-state tuition to public colleges and universities for the kids of these new American homeowners. And if one should have an "anchor baby," that child could grow up to be President.