The United States and its citizens have suffered “enough tragedies” from the open borders policies which all0w more than 1.5 million illegal and legal immigrants to enter the country every year, says Brian Lonergan, communication director at the Immigration Reform Law Institute.

In an op-ed, Lonergan explained the detriment which open borders have placed on Americans’ lives, especially in the wake of the most recent New York City terrorist attack in which the suspect, 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov, entered the U.S. in 2010 from Uzbekistan under the Diversity Visa Lottery before obtaining a Green Card.

Lonergan writes:

Predictably, there has been widespread fraud and abuse associated with both the visa lottery and chain migration. A 2007 Government Accountability Office Report detailed how immigration candidates are exploited by foreign “visa agents” who charge a ransom for applications and arrange sham marriages. There has also been widespread reported use of fake birth certificates, marriage certificates and passports. Allowing a seemingly endless chain of relatives to immigrate here only increases the potential for such corrupt and underhanded practices to continue.

A Pulse Opinion Research poll taken over the summer showed a majority of likely midterm voters support ending the visa lottery. That number is likely to go higher in the wake of the Halloween day attack. All that is required now are leaders in Washington with the conviction to carry out the will of the people.

Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) have introduced the RAISE Act, which would, among other objectives, end the visa lottery program and refocus immigration policy in terms of merit, not need. In light of the carnage in his home state, will Schumer and others in his camp see the error of their ways and support legislation that protects American citizens? The time to act is now.

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.

Lonergan also explained how family-sponsored chain migration, upon which more than 70 percent of the current U.S. legal immigration system is based, has been at the expense of Americans, their wages, and jobs.

Under chain migration, newly naturalized citizens are allowed to sponsor their foreign relatives to bring them to the U.S. Immigrants from Central America, whence the majority of immigrants now enter the U.S., generally bring three to six foreign relatives to the country, creating a pattern of mass immigration.

As Breitbart News most recently reported, the Visa Lottery has brought nearly 30,000 foreign nationals to the U.S. from terror-sponsored countries since 2007. Breitbart News also reported how the Visa Lottery has created a chain migration of an estimated five million foreign nationals coming to the U.S. since 1994.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.