U.S. Encourages Immigration From Terror-Sponsor States
Human Events
By Joseph A. D'Agostino
The Week of October 1, 2001
The U.S. State Department runs a quota system designed to encourage immigration from all seven countries on the department’s own terrorist watch list.
The "Diversity Immigrant Visa Program" has the goal of issuing highly prized permanent residence visas to 50,000 foreign nationals from countries that send relatively few immigrants to the United States. These visas are specifically designed to increase the diversity of the U.S. immigrant pool and are in addition to the employment- and family-based permanent visas that are granted each year.
All seven of the nations listed by the State Department as "state sponsors of international terrorism"—Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Cuba, North Korea and Sudan—are included in the program. "This was a program created by Congress," said a State Department official, and "1995 was the first year we had it."
Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which requires the State Department to run the program, was sponsored by Sen. Teddy Kennedy (D.-Mass.) in 1990 and signed into law by President George Bush.
Countries that have sent 50,000 or more immigrants to the United States in the last five years, such as Britain, Canada, mainland China, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Pakistan, and the Philippines, are excluded from the program.
Applicants to the diversity program "still have to meet the same requirements as other applicants for permanent residence visas," a State Department official said. "Those requirements include copies of police records, interviews."
The application requirements, the official said, enable State to screen out dangerous people such as terrorists. "No one country may have more than 7% of the visas, but there is no minimum," she said. "No country is guaranteed to be able to have applicants approved under this program." Applicants enter a lottery each year, she said. Requirements include a high school diploma or a history of skilled work experience.
Thirteen million people filed applications for the 50,000 slots available next year. Of these, three million applications were ruled invalid. Of the ten million remaining, 1,703 people from Iran were awarded visas, 117 from Iraq, 67 from Syria, 26 from Libya, 757 from Cuba, none from North Korea, and 1,820 from Sudan.
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R.-Colo.), chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, had already introduced legislation to abolish the program before the September 11 attacks. Now he says he will include its abolition in the immigration reform package he plans to introduce after the House has passed the President’s anti-terrorism package. He said he expects that it will be difficult to get this reform package to the House floor.
Jack Martin, special projects director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), said he doubts that terrorists use the diversity immigrant visa program because obtaining permanent residence visas is such a long process that includes a more thorough background check than that involved in getting a temporary visa (for business, tourism, or study).
© Human Events, 2001
Let's repeat that. After the World Trade Center attack. "Between late October and December 1, the State Department granted nonimmigrant U.S. visas to at least 7,000 men from countries in which al Qaeda is active."
We know what George thinks. But......
Seems to me we are begging the terrorists to light a big one off. Then what happens?