Visa lottery in spotlight after university shooting

One of the most senseless programs in our immigration system is back in the spotlight after the suspect in the shootings at Brown University was identified as a visa lottery winner. Millions of Americans woke up last week to learn that the United States randomly issues up to 55,000 green cards every year regardless of the applicant’s skills or family ties to the United States.

The president ordered a temporary pause on the lottery in the wake of the shooting. But only Congress can end the program. And only you can give Congress the push they need to act.

There’s already a bill to end the lottery: H.R. 1241 – The SAFE Act (by Mike Collins, GA) would eliminate the visa lottery, which raffles off 55,000 green cards each year without regard to employment skills or family ties. As of this writing, 32 representatives have signed on to H.R. 1241.

20 years after voting to end the lottery, can the House do it again?

Congress has recognized this problem before.

The visa lottery was originally created in the 1980s as a backdoor to citizenship for illegal Irish immigrants–a political scandal in its own right.

Thirty-five years ago, Rep. Chuck Schumer (now Senate Minority Leader) helped insert language into the Immigration Act of 1990 to make the lottery permanent and apply it to other countries. That same law expanded total green cards to over one million per year and created the H-1B program (not a good bill!).

The one bright spot of the 1990 Act was a bipartisan commission chaired by the late Barbara Jordan. Among its recommendations: abolish the visa lottery.

December marked the 20th anniversary of the House passing legislation to do exactly that.

Today, 32 representatives have signed on to Rep. Mike Collins’ (GA) H.R. 1241, the SAFE for America Act.

It’s time for Congress to finish the job.