WATCH: Top EB-5 experts discuss future of the program

Industry insiders talk immigration and Trump at <i>The Real Deal'</i>s Shanghai event

As experts pondered the future of EB-5 during The Real Deal’s second annual U.S. Real Estate Showcase and Forum in Shanghai, the conversation naturally turned to President-elect Donald Trump. Will his tough stance on immigration affect the controversial visa program’s future?

Former New York Gov. George Pataki said the program would have a powerful friend in Trump.

“There’s a lot of misunderstanding on that,” Pataki told TRD managing web editor Hiten Samtani, who moderated the event’s “EB-5 and U.S. Immigration” panel. “Donald Trump won for a lot of reasons — one was his very strong stance against illegal immigration. And often, in the media and in the public, the distinction between legal and illegal immigration gets lost.”

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In his keynote address, U.S. Ambassador Charles Gargano offered a similar message.

“President-elect Trump has been very outspoken about some types of immigration — but primarily he’s talking about illegal immigration,” Gargano said. “I would postulate President-elect Trump is going to be a very strong supporter of the EB-5 program.”

Also present on the panel were Nicholas Mastroianni II, founder and CEO of the U.S. Immigration Fund; Scott Alper, president of Witkoff; Connor Chen, founder of EB5Sir; and Yuan Shaozhong, director of QWOS.

To see clips of Pataki and Gargano’s respective keynote speeches, as well as the full panel, watch the video above.