Republicans Introduce Legislation to Replace Visa Lottery with Visas for American Educated Professionals

Press Release

Seeking to eliminate the arbitrary Visa Lottery system that randomly awards visas to perspective immigrants without regard to job skill needs within the United States, Republican leaders on immigration policy, today, introduced legislation that would reallocate these 55,000 annual visas to holders of advanced degrees from American universities whose skills in the sciences, technology, engineering, or mathematics will benefit the national economy of the United States. Selected individuals would receive permanent residency status.

"This is a step toward creating a rational immigration system that uses criteria intended to strengthen our economy for selecting visa recipients," said Rep. Darrell Issa who is the grandson of immigrants. "America spends time and resources educating the brightest minds who come to our universities from abroad. In a global economy, if these educated individuals want the opportunity to become Americans, help our economy in key sectors, and be net contributors to our tax base we should afford them that opportunity."

"To remain competitive in a fast-paced, global economy, American businesses must be able to recruit and hire the best and brightest students from American universities. In high-tech industries, those students are often foreign," said Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith. By reallocating 55,000 annual visas currently awarded at random to foreign students with degrees from American universities, this bill helps keep American businesses competitive globally without hurting the American worker."

"It is a serious national security threat to be handing out green cards randomly to foreign nationals," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte. "That is why I have introduced legislation for the past 5 years to eliminate the visa lottery program, and that is why I am joining this effort to eliminate the program and put the resulting green cards to a safer use that will actually contribute to our economy."

"A lottery is by its very nature a gamble—in this case a gamble on our national security," said Rep. Elton Gallegly. "I applaud Representative Issa for his leadership in taking the gamble out of our visa system and replacing it with a criteria-based system that benefits the U.S. economy while celebrating America's diversity."

This proposal will provide America with more skilled workers without increasing overall immigration levels. It will do this by ending the diversity visa lottery, under which tens of thousands of randomly selected alien applicants win green cards each year. There are various shortcomings and dangers posed by the visa lottery:

- The most significant danger posed by the program is the risk that the visa lottery can be
used by aliens who pose a danger to the American people. The State Department's Inspector
General has testified that the lottery program "contains significant risks to national security
from hostile intelligence officers, criminals, and terrorists attempting to use the program for
entry into the United States as permanent residents." This is mainly because winners of the
lottery need have no ties whatsoever to America, neither family nor employment ties.

- The visa lottery is susceptible to fraud. In fact, some have argued, the very laxity of its
structure invites fraudulent applications.

- The lottery fails to advance any of the primary goals of our immigration system, in that it does
not serve any humanitarian benefit, to unite families, or to provide skilled workers for the
American economy. When tens of millions of persons seek to come to America, it makes no
sense to distribute precious visas by lottery.

The bill also increases the number of immigrants visas - green cards - going to the "best and the brightest." These workers will help American companies compete in the global economy. The bill will help ensure that we don't educate foreign students in high-tech fields and then send them home to work for our international competitors.

A copy of legislation introduced today by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Lamar Smith (R-TX), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Elton Gallegly, Brian Bilbray (R-CA), Howard Coble (R-NC), and Tom Feeney (R-FL) is attached.

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