Poll: Majority of Americans Want 'Diversity Visa' Used by NYC Terror Suspect to Be Eliminated

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The majority of Americans want to see the Diversity Visa Lottery — the program that allowed the New York City terror suspect to enter the United States — ended entirely.

In a poll by Pulse Opinion Research, 56 percent of Americans said the Diversity Visa Lottery should be ended.

The Diversity Visa Lottery gives out 50,000 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, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Yemen, and Uzbekistan.

Only 33 percent of Americans surveyed said the Diversity Visa Lottery should be kept in place, while 11 percent said they were unsure about whether or not the visa program should be thrown out.

Sayfullo Saipov — the 29-year-old man who allegedly mowed down pedestrians in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City — entered the U.S. in 2010 from Uzbekistan under the Diversity Visa Lottery before obtaining a Green Card.

President Trump, though, along with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Sen. David Perdue (R-GA), has been calling for an end to the Diversity Visa Lottery program since August. Under the RAISE Act, introduced in February and endorsed by Trump in August, the Diversity Visa Lottery would be eliminated altogether.

At the White House this week, Trump called for an end to not only the Diversity Visa Lottery but chain migration as well, where legal immigrants in the U.S. are allowed to bring their foreign family members to the country.

“Terrorists are constantly seeking to strike our nation and it will require the unflinching devotion to our law enforcement, homeland security and intelligence professionals to keep America safe,” Trump said. “We will take all necessary steps to protect our people and our communities and to protect our nation as a whole.”