The morning after a deadly terrorist attack in New York City, President Donald Trump tweeted “The terrorist came into our country through what is called the ‘Diversity Visa Lottery Program,’ a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based.”
Trump was referring to an attack in which 29-year-old Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov killed 8 people and wounded 12 more with a rented truck in lower Manhattan. On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Saipov did indeed enter the United States with a diversity immigrant visa.
Was this program “a Chuck Schumer beauty”?
Senator Chuck Schumer was the lead sponsor of a House bill in 1990 that included diversity visas. Diversity visas became part 3 of the Immigration Act of 1990, which was signed into law by then-President George H. W. Bush.
Yet while Chuck Schumer was the lead sponsor on a House bill that included diversity visas in 1990, and while some of that bill influenced the Immigration Act of 1990, Schumer was not the lead sponsor of the final bill.
Also, in 2013 Schumer was one of four Democrats and four Republicans, known as the “Gang of 8” who proposed an immigration overhaul to the Senate. Part of the overhaul involved removing the diversity visa program. The Gang of 8 measure, while passing the Senate, was stopped in the House due largely to Republican opposition.
So Trump’s claim that the diversity visa lottery program is “a Chuck Schumer beauty” is not entirely accurate.
If you have questions about this fact check, or would like to submit a request for another fact check, email Holmes Lybrand at [email protected] or The Weekly Standard at [email protected]. For details on TWS Fact Check, see our explainer here.
