The House Freedom Caucus will support a bill to end the diversity visa lottery, The Hill reports. The conservative group of lawmakers joined President Donald Trump’s call to end the program in the wake of the terror attack in New York City last week.
“In the wake of the recent terrorist attack in New York City, we call on House leadership to follow President Trump’s call to end the diversity visa lottery program. We should have an up-or-down stand-alone vote on H.R. 1178 and send it to the Senate. As President Trump said, it’s time to get tougher and smarter on immigration.” the caucus said in a statement, voicing their support behind a bill introduced by Representative Bill Posey.
The suspect in the attack, 29-year old Sayfullo Saipov, used the program to enter the U.S. in 2010. Eight people were killed when the Uzbek national drove a truck onto a bike path in New York City on Tuesday.
Trump said last week that he was “starting the process of terminating the diversity lottery program” and called on lawmakers to act “as soon as possible.” Some senators have signaled that they would also support ending the program, The Hill notes.
The bill will still have to pass through the House Judiciary Committee to get an up-or-down vote on the House floor, Breitbart writes.
The visa lottery was originally implemented in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990 to randomize a 1987 ploy by Senator Ted Kennedy to allow primarily Irish and Northern Irish immigrants an easier time getting green cards, after the 1965 Act banned simply allowing more or fewer immigrants based on national origin.
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