Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, who has been nominated by Trump to permanently lead the department, is a member of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. In that role, Sonderling has pledged to “root out waste, fraud, and abuse“ in safety net programs like unemployment insurance “and protect hardworking Americans’ tax dollars.”
Prior to joining the Trump administration, however, as an attorney at the Florida law firm Gunster, Sonderling had a much different relationship with these programs.
During two trips to China in 2015, Sonderling made numerous speeches and presentations pitching Chinese nationals on investments in Florida. These events were designed to entice potential Chinese investors by emphasizing that their investment would make their entire family eligible for green cards, allowing them to live and work permanently in the United States through a controversial program known as EB-5.
At a July 2015 presentation Sonderling delivered with the Premier Capital Group, a Chinese language banner in the room emphasized that investors who received green cards would have access to “America’s Comprehensive Welfare.” This included “unemployment benefits,” “state disability benefits,” “food stamps,” “free school meals,” “low-cost public housing,” “Medicaid,” and “Retirement benefits.”
Another banner that appeared alongside Sonderling as he spoke emphasized that investors could “get a green card in a short time” and that “one person applies, the whole family immigrates.” Recipients would have access to “free medical care and education benefits.”
Sonderling and Premier Capital Group were seeking $500,000 investments in the Wellness Resort Hotel and Ocean-View Condominium Project. (Premier Capital Group also charged a $13,000 fee for its role.) Sonderling visited the Premier Capital Group offices as well. The project was later subject to numerous lawsuits alleging construction defects, improper zoning, and unpaid contractors.
An archived version of the firm website said that, at Gunster, Sonderling assisted “various clients with their international business dealings and capital fundraising throughout Asia.”
The China trips were documented extensively by Sonderling in hundreds of photos reviewed by Popular Information that were published to two public Flickr accounts. The Chinese text that appeared in the photos was translated using artificial intelligence. Sonderling’s activities in China have not been previously reported.
The photos document that Sonderling participated in at least five speaking engagements touting EB-5 visas in China. Most of these seem to be connected to the same hotel and condo project.
Among Sonderling’s events was a speech sponsored by the Kaiping General Chamber of Commerce, which is closely tied to the Chinese Communist Party. The same event was co-sponsored by the Kaiping Foreign & Overseas Chinese Affairs Bureau, which is part of the Chinese government, and the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, a state-controlled bank.
Sonderling’s nomination to become the permanent Labor Secretary is now pending before the Senate. Contacted through the Labor Department, Sonderling did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump administration — and others — blast EB-5 as a vehicle for fraud and abuse
In a February 2025 appearance in the Oval Office, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called the EB-5 program “full of nonsense, make believe and fraud.” Lutnick described it as a way to buy “a green card that was low priced.” Lutnick said that the Trump administration would replace the “ridiculous” EB-5 program with a Trump Gold Card that would sell green cards for $5 million.
The Trump Gold Card program was formally launched, with a reduced price of $1 million, in December 2025. At that event, Lutnick said that “the average green card holder earned less than the average American” and, as a result, “were more likely to be on the dole and be on our assistance programs.” Access to these assistance programs was pitched as a key benefit of the EB-5 program during Sonderling’s tour. (The Trump Gold Card, however, did not replace the EB-5 program, which still exists.)
Lutnick’s commentary was only the latest criticism of the EB-5 program by Trump administration officials. In June 2018, L. Francis Cissna, who served as Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services during Trump’s first term, testified at a Senate hearing called “Citizenship for Sale: Oversight of the EB-5 Investor Visa Program.” During the hearing, Cissna raised concerns about “fraud, abuse, and national security risks related to the program.” Cissna testified that “[i]n the absence of legislative reforms” Congress should consider allowing key aspects of the program to expire.
Criticisms of the program are not limited to the Trump administration. A 2015 Government Accountability Office report said the EB-5 program had “[u]nique fraud risks,” including “uncertainties in verifying that the funds invested were obtained lawfully and various investment-related schemes to defraud investors.” In a March 2018 floor speech, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said the EB-5 program “sells, yes sells, our citizenship.” Grassley described it as a “corrupt, scandal-clad program.”
I support the task force's goal of rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse. Let's start with the man in the Oval Office.