NEW YORK, May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Promise of opportunity led Kor Mulder and his family from their home in Holland to pursue dreams of opening a dairy farm in Minnesota. Eighteen years later, the dream has crumbled due to a broken U.S. immigration system.
Kor, his ex-wife and two children came to the U.S. on an E2 investor visa in 2001, turning 11 acres of farmland into a thriving business that generates $3.5 million/year into their community. But due to the lack of privileges granted to E2 visa holders, the family farm cannot sustain.
"My family members were not allowed to have a job outside the farm, because you are not allowed to take jobs away from Americans," Kor explained on Brad Show Live. "Plus my kids are now 21-years-old, they are seen as adults, and are not on my visa anymore."
Kor's children are no longer protected under his E2 visa, leaving them without immigration status in the U.S. This led his oldest son to go back to Holland and his youngest is departing soon.
Without his sons, Kor can't farm by himself, making him abandon the dairy farm and follow his children back to Holland.
"I can't farm by myself… I can keep my [youngest] kid here [in the U.S.] on a student visa," he said. But, "a student visa is $8,000 and school is more expensive, especially for farmers."
Investor visas often cannot convert their status into that of a green card. Investor visas only become eligible for a green card if the investor hires ten U.S. workers and shows an investment of over 1 million dollars into their business. Kor can prove the 1 million dollars of investment, but he cannot afford to hire 10 U.S. workers.
Kor told Brad Bernstein his only hope is if a proposed private bill is passed. Mulder's private bill is currently pending in the House of Representatives. A petition with 38,000 signatures demanding political figures in Minnesota to save Kor's farm is also circulating.
Catch the full interview on YouTube and Facebook with host Brad Bernstein! Brad Show Live is a 2019 webby honoree that airs Monday-Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET!
https://www.youtube.com/user/sparandbernstein/featured
https://www.facebook.com/SparBernstein/
Contact: Jill Gould, [email protected]
SOURCE Brad Show Live
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