Our immigration policy is stupid. Unlike Canada, which screens immigrants for those who can add jobs and contribute to its economy, we mainly rely on "family reunification" that prioritizes extended family relatives of immigrants already here. And among the immigrants who get here without a relative here, the United States hands out this precious opportunity as a lottery prize to 55,000 foreign nationals a year. There is no upside for Americans to the "Diversity Visa Lottery Program" and a huge downside.
The Visa Lottery randomly gives out about 55,000 visas every year to foreign nationals from a multitude of countries, including those with known terrorist problems — such as Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and Uzbekistan.
Requirements for foreign nationals to win the visa lottery are low, with the foreign national only needing a high school degree and two years of work experience. Despite the weak prerequisites needed to obtain the visa, foreign nationals can later obtain green cards to permanently stay in the U.S. and after living in the country for five years can become American citizens and begin bringing their extended relatives to the country, a system known as "chain migration."
The downside multiplies when combined with the family reunification policy. John Binder writes at Breitbart:
Since 2005, Breitbart News reported, more than half a million foreign nationals have come to the U.S. by randomly winning the Visa Lottery, bringing with them a chain migration of five million foreign nationals since 1994, according to researchers at the Center for Immigration Studies.
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11.29.2024