By Alexandra Kovalchuk
"The regular immigration process is intended for family members of American citizens or for specialists who enter the US on work visas," explains Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Maura Harty, who oversees the green card lottery program at the State Department. "The lottery expands the pool of potential immigrants and gives people in many countries around the world a chance to try their luck."
The lottery gives away 55,000 green cards each year, which can be claimed by residents of countries with traditionally low levels of immigration to the US. If a lottery participant is lucky, he or she can receive a green card that allows them to live and work permanently in the United States. To register for the lottery, one must, among other things, have a high school diploma from their country of birth or two years of work experience.
However, according to Voice of America, the number of opponents of the visa lottery in the US itself is not decreasing. "I believe that such a lottery program diminishes the value of the very idea of immigration to the US," says John Keeley, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies. "The lottery places no demands on immigrants; it is conducted without regard to professional skills and abilities, without regard to education level or the talents that an immigrant brings to the US."
Keeley also notes that the United States needs to be much more careful about whom it lets into the country: "After all, we are now waging a global war on terrorism, so the very idea of allowing officials from Washington to carry out an immigration amnesty and legalize 10 million illegal immigrants from around the world is obvious nonsense. After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, we need to know clearly who enters the US, rather than leaving it to chance by holding lotteries."
The visa lottery program indeed does not track the subsequent fate of people who win permanent residence. Therefore, there is no data on how they are currently living in the United States.
Despite security concerns, State Department officials say green card lotteries will continue. They consider the program excellent publicity for the United States, which helps attract new, active immigrants to the country.