“The third pillar ends the visa lottery — a program that randomly hands out green cards without any regard for skill, merit or the safety of our people.”
The diversity visa lottery program, more commonly known as the green card lottery, isn’t random as Trump suggests. Each year natives of a number of countries are not allowed to apply because more than 50,000 people from these countries had been admitted during the last five years. Individuals who apply must have at least a high school diploma, the equivalent or two years work experience, which the State Department specifies, to be eligible for the program. As the term “lottery” implies, applicants are selected via a randomized computer drawing. The selected applicants undergo a background check, interview and medical tests before entering the country, and some applicants undergo an additional in-depth review if they are considered a security risk. After which, selected applicants can be deemed ineligible for a visa.
A 2007 report from the Government Accountability Office did point to substantial fraud risks within the program and proposed using data to mitigate these risks. However, the State Department at the time disagreed with the report’s findings, saying it already had managed these risks. The same report notes there can be ‘‘difficulty in verifying identities has security-based implications because State’s security checks rely heavily on name-based databases,” something a 2011 report from the House of Representatives suggests could be a national security weakness. It’s clear there are issues with the program, but it is a stretch to say the program has no regard for merit or safety.