Acting DHS secretary voices support for ending Diversity Visa Lottery Program

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Director Elaine Duke testified before a House committee on Thursday that the Diversity Visa Lottery Program is “rife with fraud,” backing a bill that would eliminate the program.

During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Duke said that the diversity program is “not the best use of our immigration system” and that a merit-based immigration system would better serve the country.

U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) questioned Duke about needed changes to the immigration system in light of the Oct. 31 terrorist attack on a New York City bike path. The alleged perpetrator, Sayfulio Saipov, legally entered the country through the Diversity Visa Lottery Program.

“Many vulnerabilities have been talked about today that radical Islamic terrorists can use and will use to hurt Americans and attack our way of life,” McSally said. “One of those vulnerabilities was used just 30 days ago. We are an immigrant-friendly country — we admit 1 million immigrants each year. No other country that routinely admits immigrants hands out their visas based on chance and lottery.”

McSally previously introduced the Protecting America and American Workers Act. The bill would eliminate the Diversity Visa Lottery Program by converting its 26,000 visas to employment visas.

When asked by McSally if she would support the bill and the elimination of the lottery program, Duke responded, “Yes, I support that.”

McSally noted that nearly 29,000 foreign nationals from Syria, Sudan, and Iran, all countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism, had been granted entry to the United States since 2007 through the program. Additionally, McSally noted that four Somali nationals recently had the citizenship stripped for defrauding the program.