Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) has introduced H.R.5520, the SAFE for America Act, that would eliminate the annual Visa Lottery. The Visa Lottery issues 55,000 greencards per year to foreign citizens of countries that have lower rates of immigration to the United States. The greencards are awarded, however, through a random lottery drawing and without consideration of the recipients educational attainment or work skills.
The bill has been introduced in past Congresses by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) who currently chairs the House Judiciary Committee. Rep. Goodlatte was the lone original cosponsor of the bill.
Eliminating the Visa Lottery was a recommendation of the Bipartisan Barbara Jordan Commission. The more than 50,000 visas each year are given primarily to working-age immigrants who compete with the 18 million Americans who cannot find a full-time job.
Second, the lottery also feeds chain migration, which puts legal immigration on automatic pilot. This blindly rewards even distant relatives with a visa based on nothing other than being kin to somebody who beat the odds — not their talent, education, thirst for American liberty, or any other quality. Third, the lottery feeds fraud and abuse, with multiple applications filed under fake names to increase the odds. Fourth, the lottery poses a serious threat to our nation’s security. Many lottery visas go to aliens from terrorism-sponsoring countries.
The Visa Lottery is one of NumbersUSA's 5 immigration solutions to reducing overall immigration levels and ending illegal immigration. You can read more here.
