Rep. Goodlatte Urges House Committee to Consider End to Visa Lottery

Thursday, January 7, 2010, 8:28 PM EST - posted on NumbersUSA

Rep. Bob Goodlatte

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, who also serves as the Vice-Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the committee's chair urging him to consider a bill that would put an end to the Visa Lottery (H.R. 2305).

Rep. Goodlatte (R-Va.) proposed H.R. 2305 that would end the controversial program that issues 50,000 permanent Green Cards without any regard to their humanitarian needs, what they might offer the country or their having any family connections in the United States. The bill has 45 cosponsors.

Visas are awarded, through the lottery, to applicants from countries that don't receive a lot of Green Cards from the United States. Among the nation's that receive visas are Iran, Sudan, Cuba, and Syria. Thirteen of 14 nations on the Transportation Security Administration's airport watch list, including Nigeria, are on the list of nations eligible for the lottery. Nigeria is home to the terrorist who attempted to blow up a flight on Christmas Day.

The visa lottery program poses a national security threat. Under the program, each successful applicant is chosen at random and given the status of permanent resident based on pure luck.

Usually, immigrant visas are issued to foreign nationals who have an existing connection with a family member lawfully residing in the United States or with a U.S. employer. These types of relationships help to ensure that immigrants entering the country have a stake in our nation’s continued success, and have needed skills to contribute to our nation’s economy. However, under the visa lottery program, visas are awarded to immigrants at random without meeting such criteria.

The nature of the lottery is such that we have no control over who applies for admission to our nation. This flawed policy is just foolish in the age in which we live. Those in the world who wish us harm can easily engage in this statistical gamble with nothing to lose.

-- Rep. Goodlatte

The visa lottery is a dangerous game with our national security. America already has the most generous immigration policy in the world, admitting over one million legal immigrants each year. But under the current lottery system, up to 50,000 randomly selected alien applicants win visas each year, many from countries with a significant terrorist presence. We should end this dangerous game for the sake of our national security.

-- Rep. Lamar Smith, Ranking Member House Judiciary Committee

In 2007, the GAO issued a report that said that the visa lottery “is vulnerable to fraudulent activity committed by and against applicants…” The same report said that “widespread use of fake documents, such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, and passports, presented challenges when verifying the identities of applicants and dependents.”