Last September, President Trump signed the “Gold Card Executive Order.” With his signature, a new policy took effect that has since prompted outcry from politicians and constituents alike. The Gold Card is a rapid visa granted to individuals seeking to immigrate to America. But there’s a catch: you must pay more than $1 million to receive the card. This past February, the Democracy Defenders and the Public Litigation Group filed a lawsuit against Trump’s policy, arguing that “by giving priority consideration to and awarding visas to individuals who can pay $1 million, rather than to highly talented individuals whose admission would benefit the US, the Policy runs counter to the laws enacted by Congress.” 

A spokesperson for Trump stated the “Gold Card Policy ensures that our immigration system prioritizes those with a demonstrated track record of success,” which many scholars argue disregards the disproportionate disparities people of color experience. The foundation of many Trump policies reflect a belief rooted in color-blind racism: all individuals are born with equal opportunity, therefore making the most intelligent the wealthiest. Sociologist Tanya Golash-Boza explains that “this response, however, ignores the structural factors that both created segregation and perpetuated it.” Rather than emphasizing intellectual ability and achievement, the Gold Card Policy prioritizes wealth, thereby implying that individuals seeking to immigrate to the US without a million dollars are undesirables. 

The Gold Card Policy connects to a plethora of other racially motivated immigration policies in the history of the US, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which Tanya Golash-Boza states, “introduced a “gatekeeping” culture that transformed the ways in which Americans viewed the US’ identity as a nation of immigration.” Trump's Gold Card Policy seeks to regress to a gatekeeping policy that allows the US to thrive on letting wealthy white people in and keeping out the poorer, non-white masses. Trump’s policies promise to “unlock life in America” by restricting who gets in and who will not.

Moreover, the system of checks and balances in the U.S. government created by the Constitution has been tested by the Gold Card Policy. Enacted through executive order by Trump, this policy bypasses Congress completely. Originally fearing a tyranny in the hands of the president, the founders of the Constitution gave Congress greater powers than the President in many respects. In the book Public Policy: Origins, Practice, and Analysis, authors state, “Article Two of the Constitution enumerated far fewer policy-making powers and responsibilities to the American president than Congress received in Article One.” Despite this intention, the Gold Card Policy, in many ways, elevates the president's authority in shaping the order of immigration in the US above that of Congress, a point the recent lawsuit argues is an overreach. 

Similar to the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Gold Card Policy roots its framework in the same racist ideologies used in 1882. Since the founding of the Constitution 238 years ago, the U.S. has been on a long journey to reconcile its image of itself as a nation founded by English with the realities of importing an estimated 500,000 enslaved Africans, eradicating and dislocating native peoples, and building the world’s most powerful economy thanks to immigrants. This journey to reconcile its white identity with its diverse population winds through the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, Black Lives Matter, and now Donald Trump. What’s clear from this larger historic view is that Trump is just the latest chapter in the history of a nation that is slowly and painfully moving to greater rights for people of color. Trump is seeking to return the nation to the gatekeeping policies that existed in the US in the late 19th century, but if demographic trends continue, the U.S. will lose its white majority by 2045. A larger question is whether the fundamental changes Trump is making to the system of checks and balances will endure after he leaves office. It is no longer unreasonable to ask if the stricken idea of a “Tyranny” has become our reality. The question is: will it also become our future?

Bibliography 

Bromwich, Jonah E. “Lawsuit Argues Trump Gold Card Visa Program Prioritizes Wealth Over Ability.” New York Times , February 3, 2026. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/us/politics/trump-gold-card-visa-lawsuit.html. 

Golash-Boza, Tanya Maria. Race and racisms: A critical approach. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2023. 

Martin, Kimberly, Keith E. Lee, and John Powell Hall. Public policy: Origins, practice, and analysis. Dahlonega, GA: University of North Georgia Press, 2021.