Subject:
Cosponsor H.R. 2305 to End the Visa Lottery
To:
Rep. Christopher Smith
November 2, 2009
Dear Representative Smith,
The visa lottery no longer meets the needs of U.S. immigration policy. With this in mind I hope you will cosponsor the bipartisan H.R. 2305, which would end this program.
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy told Congress that a national origins-based immigration system "neither satisfies a national need nor accomplishes an international purpose. In an age of interdependence among nations, such a system is an anachronism for it discriminates among applicants for admission into the United States on the basis of the accident of birth." Congress responded by including language in their 1965 immigration bill that stated, "Except as specifically provided...no person shall receive any preference or priority or be discriminated against in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of his race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence."
The original exceptions for which the law specifically provided were:
1) Per country limits on family-based and employment-based immigrants so no country could completely dominate the flow; and
2) The provision that permits the immediate relatives of U.S. citizens to enter without numerical limits, while all other relatives must enter under quotas.
Yet Congress has since added the visa lottery to those exceptions, implementing a system designed to give preference to individuals based on their national origin. How is this fair to would-be immigrants with exceptional skills or unemployed Americans (currently numbering nearly 15 million)?
Please cosponsor the bi-partisan H.R. 2305 to end the visa lottery.
Point Pleasant , NJ
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