The diversity visa lottery program that helped New York City terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov enter the country should come to an end, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, who has been calling for years to end it, said Friday.
"The House representatives passed legislation in prior congresses to do that," the Virginia Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program. "We need to do that now. This is not only a threat, as we have seen from this horrific terrorist attack, my heart goes out to the families of those who lost their lives and the individuals severely injured by this."
This is not the first time a terrorist who entered through the lottery program, said Goodlatte, noting that about 15 years ago, a ticket counter at the Los Angeles Airport was attacked by another lottery winner.
"At least two terrorist attacks have been broken up and some have pleaded guilty to conspiracy who were also admitted to this country under this program," said Goodlatte. "It makes no sense as a program. We're admitting 55,000 people into this country, a year, not based on job skills needed in the country, or family they have in the country but based on pure luck."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.