Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling Exposed for Pitching Green Cards and U.S. Welfare to Chinese Investors
Key Takeaways
- •Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling traveled to China twice in 2015 to pitch EB-5 visa-linked real estate investments to Chinese nationals while working for the Florida law firm Gunster.
- •Promotional materials at one event promised investors a green card, family immigration, and access to U.S. welfare programs including Medicaid, food stamps, and public housing.
- •Public Flickr photos documented Sonderling's participation in at least five speaking engagements promoting EB-5 visas in China, mostly tied to a single hotel and condo project.
- •The EB-5 program Sonderling promoted has been criticized by the Trump administration, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick calling it rife with fraud in 2025.
- •Sonderling leads the Labor Department and serves on the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, but did not respond to a request for comment.
Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, who in May vowed to "eliminate waste, fraud and abuse," was revealed Sunday to have previously pitched foreign nationals on a real estate investment opportunity promising green cards and access to "America's Comprehensive Welfare" for their entire families.
The disclosure comes from a Popular Information report, which documents two trips Sonderling took to China in 2015, before joining the Trump administration.
At the time, Sonderling worked for the Florida law firm Gunster and delivered multiple presentations on behalf of Premier Capital Group, an international real estate consulting and investment company.
According to banners at one event reviewed by Popular Information, a presentation promised Chinese nationals that, in exchange for investing in a U.S. resort hotel condominium project, they could "get a green card in a short time," and that after "one person applies, the whole family immigrates." Once in the United States, the investors and their families were promised access to U.S. welfare programs, including "unemployment benefits," "food stamps," "low-cost public housing," "Medicaid" and "retirement benefits."
"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 report states.
The pitch relied on the United States' EB-5 visa program, which grants green cards to foreign investors who meet minimum investment thresholds. That same program has been criticized by the Trump administration, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick calling it "full of nonsense, make believe and fraud" in 2025.
"The photos document that Sonderling participated in at least five speaking engagements touting EB-5 visas in China," the Popular Information report reads. "Most of these seem to be connected to the same hotel and condo project."
Sonderling was tapped by Trump to lead the Labor Department in June and also serves as a member of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. The disclosure places his prior promotional work at odds with the administration's stated posture on EB-5 fraud, a tension that may draw further scrutiny given his role overseeing fraud-elimination efforts. According to the outlet, he did not respond to a request for comment.
