New York Senator Chuck Schumer accused US President Donald Trump on Wednesday of politicising the deadly Manhattan truck attack, which authorities have labelled a terrorist incident.
Trump tweeted that the suspect, believed to be an immigrant from Uzbekistan, had entered the United States through a visa lottery system established through 1990 legislation that then – congressman Schumer sponsored.
Trump called it “a Chuck Schumer beauty” and touted his plans for a “merit based” immigration system.
Schumer, a member of the upper chamber since 1999 and leader of the opposition Democratic minority in the Senate since January, tweeted soon after: “I guess it’s not too soon to politicise a tragedy.”
He insisted that immigration is “good for America.”
“President Trump, instead of politicising and dividing America, which he always seems to do at times of national tragedy, should be focusing on the real solution, anti-terrorism funding, which he proposed cutting in his most recent budget,” Schumer said.
The Diversity Immigrant Visa, often called the green card lottery, grants the recipient permanent US residency. Around 50,000 people annually have been given the visa out of the millions who apply.
President Trump said Wednesday that he would end the popular US green card lottery after a radicalised Uzbek man who entered the country under the programme killed eight people in New York.
“I am starting the process of terminating the diversity lottery programme,” Trump told reporters.
“We have to do what’s right to protect our citizens,” he said.
“We will get rid of this lottery programme as soon as possible.”
The 1990 programme awards US permanent resident visas to around 50,000 applicants from around the world each year, opening the door as well for members of their broader families to follow them, so-called chain migration.
According to Trump, Sayfullo Saipov, who plowed a rented truck into cyclists and pedestrians on a New York City bike path Tuesday, came to the country via the programme.
Saipov was arrested after being shot by police and officials said he planned to undertake his attack in the name of Islamic State for weeks, following online instructions from the jihadist group.
Trump’s threat would further close the doors to hopeful US immigrants, after slashing the country’s annual refugee intake by more than 50 percent, tightening visa issuance around the world and attempting to ban travellers from 11 countries, most of them with Muslim-majority populations. Uzbekistan is not among the 11.
The programme Trump threatened Wednesday aims to diversify the origins of people granted permanent residence — so-called green cards — in the United States.
In 2015, the green card lottery, applications were received for more than 14 million people, and 49,377 won green cards. That included 2,524 Uzbeks.
Trump said he wants to move US immigration to a “merit-based system” and not allow immigrants to bring their extended families. We want to get rid of chain migration,” he said
