President Donald Trump speaks as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick listens alongside a poster of the Trump Gold Card in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Washington (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).
A federal lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., accuses the Trump administration of unlawfully withholding information about the president’s controversial $1 million “Gold Card Visa Program” and its implications for the public. The lawsuit targets several federal agencies, alleging a lack of transparency.
The Democracy Defenders Fund and the Florida-based law firm Colombo & Hurd have initiated legal action against the State Department, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Homeland Security. They claim these agencies have failed to disclose documents deemed of “national significance,” which the plaintiffs argue they are entitled to under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Norm Eisen, co-founder of the Democracy Defenders Fund and a former ethics advisor during the Obama administration, emphasized that the public deserves to understand how these agencies have managed the Gold Card program. This initiative was established by President Donald Trump via an executive order in September.
The lawsuit amplifies ongoing criticism of the program, which has been described as a “pay-to-play” model favoring affluent immigrants over professionals like scientists and academics. The plaintiffs are pushing for transparency regarding what has been described by Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as a program that has generated “over $1 billion” through gold card sales.
According to the lawsuit, the Democracy Defenders Fund filed a FOIA request with DHS and USCIS on February 11, 2026, seeking details about how the Gold Card Visa Program was developed and executed. Despite this, the plaintiffs assert that they have yet to receive any pertinent information or a valid legal reason for the nondisclosure.
The legal complaint also references a Commerce Department blog post from December, which included an application link for the gold card, highlighting the administration’s promotion of the initiative.
“Our immigration system should put Americans first. That’s exactly why the Trump Gold Card is a major win for our country,” Lutnick declared at the time.
The plaintiffs countered that the Trump administration should be forced to disclose internal documents about the program precisely because the public has been left to rely on only Trump and Lutnick’s assurances.
“Behind closed doors, this administration appears to be trying to turn our immigration system into a bazaar with the privilege of U.S. residency available to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, they are cruelly cracking down on others who are drawn to our shores,” Eisen said in a statement. “The American people deserve to know how this pay-to-play scheme came to be, how the Gold Card applications are processed and how the program adversely impacts qualified applicants whose work in the U.S. would benefit all of us.”
Free Information Group is a public interest law firm also involved in the litigation. Co-founder Kevin Bell stated that “[i]mmigrant visas are not million-dollar Mar-a-Lago memberships.”
“For months President Trump and Secretary Lutnick shifted their story about which foreign interests would benefit and who would suffer the cost. This litigation will reveal the true story. People may lie, but records don’t,” Bell said.
