Pakistani-American businessman says denying Green Card holders govt loan bad policy: 'As a former SBA leader...'

Pakistani-American businessman Dilawar Syed, who previously served in the Small Business Administration, reacted to the new rule that bars Green Card holders from availing small business loans, and said it is nothing but bad policy. "As a former SBA leader, I’ve seen immigrant entrepreneurs power job creation. Blocking millions of legal permanent residents from SBA loans isn’t pro-growth— it’s bad policy that hurts Main Street," Syed said.

The SBA issued a new policy guideline withdrawing a narrow exception that allowed small businesses seeking a loan from the agency to have partial ownership by non-citizens or nationals. About 5% of ownership was allowed before but now Green Card holders won't be eligible to own any percentage of a business seeking an SBA loan. The new rule will be applicable from March 1. Green Card holders will either have to get their loan number before March 1 or forget about SBA loans if they are partners in any business in the US.





"The agency will no longer guarantee loans for small businesses owned by foreign nationals," Maggie Clemmons, an SBA spokesperson, told Axios. "Across every program, the SBA is ensuring that every taxpayer dollar entrusted to this agency goes to support US job creators and innovators. o that end, we expect to be able to offer them even more capital in the near future pending legislation to increase SBA loan limits for small businesses that are hiring, building, and producing in America," she said.

'Make life worse for immigrants'

President of FWD.us, Todd Schulte, said the approach is to make immigrants' life worse in the US but it also hurts Americans. You may not have seen but the administration is moving to block legal permanent residents — green card holders — from accessing SBA loans…loans to grow small businesses and create jobs in the US. The all-of-govt approach to make life worse for immigrants hurts all Americans," Schulte said.

"I’m not an SBA expert but if permanent residents have previously had access and there have been no changes made by Congress, this is probably illegal and worth challenging," immigration lawyer Greg Siskind said.