Mark Levin: ‘The diversity visa program should be gutted’

Appearing on “Hannity” Tuesday evening, LevinTV host Mark Levin explained the problem with the diversity visa lottery program that the suspected New York City terrorist Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov reportedly used to enter the country before this program became the subject of a controversial debate on Wednesday.

“I started digging into this,” Levin told Sean Hannity. “It’s a lottery program, it’s been in existence for some time. [There are] 50,000 people a year coming here through the diversity visa program.”

"It's a lottery system. That's no way to run an immigration system," Levin said.

Levin explained how Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., sponsored the program when it became law in 1990, taking effect in 1995, and how the law needs to be changed to better protect American interests.

“This diversity visa program should be gutted,” Levin said. “The purpose of immigration, historically, is to improve the United States, is to benefit the United States, not to ensure diversity from the foreigners coming into this country, not to ensure that certain countries are well represented.”

“Immigration is supposed to improve the United States.”

On Wednesday, President Trump seemed to have heeded Levin’s advice and declared that he would take steps to end the diversity visa lottery.

.@POTUS: "I am today starting the process of terminating the Diversity Lottery Program." pic.twitter.com/Ov5e9C1dKI

— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 1, 2017

“I am today starting the process of terminating the diversity lottery program,” the president said. “I am going to ask Congress to immediately initiate work to get rid of this program.”