The White House demands a ban on the Green Card lottery
As reported by Voice of America, Donald Trump accused his opponents from the Democratic Party of their policy flooding the country with almost dubious individuals. How will this affect the fate of the world's most famous lottery?
Secondary education, two years of work experience, a few photos, and a form filled out in English – these are all the requirements for participating in the Green Card lottery. This minimal set was possessed by Sayfullo Saipov, who the day before drove his truck into a crowd of New Yorkers.
Every year, the U.S. raffles off fifty thousand visas through the so-called Green Card lottery (Diversity Visa Lottery), in which millions of applicants from around the world participate. The system of random selection of new Americans has been criticized before, especially by conservative politicians. However, under the administration of Donald Trump, its fate has become even more precarious.
The head of the White House is confident: the blind visa lottery should be replaced by a thorough evaluation of candidates. In other words, America needs talents, not lucky ones. The president had previously banned entry into the U.S. for citizens of seven, predominantly Muslim, countries. Notably, Uzbekistan was not on this list. Although immigration from this country has been among the highest for a decade. For comparison: while in Russia an average of three thousand green cards are won annually in the lottery, in 30-million Uzbekistan this figure is almost five thousand each year.
Periodically, the State Department stops the lottery in countries with high emigration rates to the U.S. For example, next year citizens of eighteen countries will not be able to apply for the lottery, including Canada, the United Kingdom, China, and Mexico. From 2005 to 2009, the lottery was not held in Russia. Citizens of Uzbekistan have never been affected by such restrictions.
However, even if fortune is blind, immigration service employees are very vigilant. Despite the fact that the Green Card lottery selects seemingly random people, those who pass the screening enter the U.S. Biometric data, information about offenses, details of biography – all this will not be required immediately, but will definitely be checked before the won immigrant visa is issued.
These checks are now proposed to be made even more thorough, and the Green Card lottery to be abolished altogether.
In August last year, the U.S. presidential administration presented a draft of new immigration legislation. At that time, many provisions of the document, in particular the requirement for potential immigrants to know English, sparked a wave of criticism. But it is quite possible that after the events in New York, society will look at these proposals in a new light.