A bill to end the visa lottery program the suspected New York City terrorist used to get U.S. residency has been lingering in Congress since February, Breitbart reported Wednesday.
Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., introduced the bill on Feb. 2. It was referred to the House Judiciary subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security a month later.
His bill, entitled the Security and Fairness Enhancement (SAFE) for America Act, would end the visa lottery program that awards 50,000 permanent residency status to foreigners from many countries, including those with links to terrorism in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia.
Sayfullo Saipov, the suspected terrorist from Uzbekistan who killed at least eight people Tuesday in New York, won a lottery visa in 2010. Critics say the lottery program inadequately investigates the backgrounds of those who are awarded the visas.
"The Diversity Visa Program is an unfortunate blind spot in our immigration system that has outlived whatever purpose it might have had," Janice Kephart of the Center for Immigration Studies told Congress in 2011.
"The program is a national security vulnerability and has been used by terrorists and organized criminals to not only enter the United States but to bring others in as well," she added.
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