Targeted Employment Areas (TEAs)

Question: Please discuss how the USCIS recommends a State Government identify and submit TEA’s when there are municipal development and environmental issues (i.e. protection of water source, transitional military bases, local targeted- development ordinances) that the local government needs to have addressed in designating TEA’s?

Answer: State governments have the discretion to decide whether to issue TEA designations based upon high unemployment. No state government is required to issue such a designation if it might be detrimental to an area based upon potential adverse impacts of an EB-5 project. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is most likely the appropriate federal source for a state government to consult with regarding environmental issues that may be impacted by EB-5 capital investment projects.

Note that the regulation at 8 CFR 204.6(i) only provides state governments the authority to delegate areas as TEAs based on a finding of high unemployment to “the agency, board, or other appropriate governmental body of the state…” Since municipal governments, such as a local city government or a town government are not a part of state government, state governments may not delegate the TEA determination authority to a local governmental body.