An Argument Against the Diversity Visa Lottery Program

The Takeaway

About two weeks from now, the State Department will randomly draw 50,000 names from the fifteen million entries for U.S. visas, as part of the Diversity Visa Lottery Program. The Diversity Visa program garnered attention recently, after news that a computer glitch invalidated a drawing in early May, obligating the State Department to nullify 22,000 visas it had previously awarded.   On Monday, we spoke with Jalal El Mir, a 30-year-old middle school English teacher from Morocco who was one of the 22,000 whose visa was invalidated. Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte, who represents Virginia’s sixth district, speaks with us today. Goodlatte wants to end the Diversity Visa Program.

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