House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte said the nation’s diversity visa lottery system threatens national security and should be ended.
“Tragically, we have witnessed yet again that the visa lottery poses a threat to the safety of our citizens and the security of our nation,” Goodlatte, R-Va., said in a statement.
Goodlatte has sponsored legislation to end the program, which uses a lottery system to award 50,000 visas annually to people from countries with the lowest rates of immigration to the United States.
The man arrested for carrying out the deadly truck attack in New York on Tuesday was living in the United States thanks to a diversity visa.
“This flawed policy is just foolish in the age in which we live,” Goodlatte said. “Those in the world who wish us harm can easily engage in this statistical gamble with nothing to lose. Our immigration policy should be based primarily on our national needs, security, and economics and not in part on an arbitrary system.”
Democrats noted Wednesday a provision to eliminate the program was included in the 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the Senate but never won consideration in the House.
