President Donald Trump's claims about the diversity visa program, which uses a lottery, parallel his Pants on Fire claim as presidential candidate that the Mexican government sends "the bad ones" to the United States.
In this case, Trump oversimplified and misconstrued the program. Countries don’t send their people. Lottery applicants must meet minimum standards for education or work experience. The lottery is run by the United States, not foreign countries. Lottery winners are selected by a random, computerized process and then must pass background vetting by the U.S. government before getting a visa.
The White House declined to comment on the record for this fact-check.
Trump favors an immigration system where people come in based on job skills, not just because of family connections or for diversity.
He's said the visa lottery "presents significant vulnerabilities to our national security" and has pointed as an example to Sayfullo Saipov, from Uzbekistan, who entered the United States in 2010 through the lottery program. Saipov is accused of killing eight people and injuring a dozen others in an October attack by car in New York City. He's pleaded not guilty to murder and terrorism charges.
The visa lottery program was established in 1990 to diversify the United States' immigrant population. The lottery began in 1995 and selects applicants from countries with low immigration levels during the previous five years. Diversity visas are currently capped at 50,000 per fiscal year.
It’s administered by the U.S. State Department. Here’s its current description of the program:
• Applicants register online for the lottery in the fall;
• Names of lottery winners are randomly selected by a computer;
• Lottery winners are notified around May that they can apply for the diversity visa;
• The visa application process and interviews begin Oct. 1. This step includes extensive vetting such as biographic and biometric screening against U.S. law enforcement and counterterrorism databases;
• Applicants who pass the vetting process are awarded the diversity visa, which is usually valid for up to six months.
“No visa can be issued unless all concerns raised by the screening are fully resolved. As part of this screening process, information that might suggest an individual is a potential threat is shared with all appropriate U.S. government agencies,” the State Department said in a statement to PolitiFact. “National security is our top priority when adjudicating visa applications,” the agency added.
Trump said countries are not “giving us” their best people. But countries do not “give” immigrants, noted Elizabeth F. Cohen, an associate professor of political science at Syracuse University.
“Individuals make decisions to apply for any visa, including but not limited to the diversity lottery visa,” Cohen said. “The application and vetting process are also complicated, suggesting that only highly capable and well-prepared individuals will succeed.”
Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law practice at Cornell Law School, wrote in an op-ed for the New York Daily News, “The diversity visa program is a true lottery. There is no way a foreign government can game the lottery to offload the worst of their citizenry.”
Our ruling
Trump based his criticism on the fact that the suspect in a New York City terror attack came through the program in 2010. But his characterization gives a misleading impression of how it works. The lottery is administered by the United States, entrants must meet educational and work-experience requirements, and winners are chosen at random by a computer. Also, winning the lottery does not necessarily mean the person will come to the United States. Applicants who win must be thoroughly vetted before being awarded a visa.
We rate Trump's statement Pants on Fire.
Says of the diversity visa lottery program, “they give us their worst people, they put them in a bin,” and “the worst of the worst” are selected.
— President Donald Trump on Friday, Dec. 15, 2017 in a speech
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