Since we have been talking about security screening for refugees, and since the deadline for the annual “diversity lottery” is this Sunday, I thought it might be a good time to remind readers that besides refugee resettlement there are many additional immigration programs administered by the US State Department. This highly questionable one came under fire from the General Accounting Office this past fall because of its potential security risk. This was written by James Pinkerton and published at the Houston Chronicle a couple of days ago:
A little-known immigration lottery that grants 50,000 visas a year poses a ”pervasive fraud risk” and could be used by terrorists with false documents to enter the U.S., according to federal auditors.
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Called the “diversity visa,” the program is designed to bring variety to the stream of immigrants legally entering the country. The deadline to apply for this year’s lottery is 11 a.m. Sunday, and it is open to citizens of 170 countries that sent fewer than 50,000 immigrants during the past five years, according to the U.S. State Department.
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But at six of 11 consular posts reviewed by Government Accountability Office investigators, officers found ”widespread” use of fake documents, including counterfeit birth and marriage certificates and passports, according to the agency’s report in September.
I had to laugh about the need to “bring variety to the stream of immigrants.” We don’t have enough variety in the Refugee Resettlement program? In Appendix A of the 2005 Annual report to Congress there are 24 differant countries and regions listed from which we receive refugees. A couple of those are listed only as former Soviet Union or Yugoslavia which actually represent many additional countries. This “diversity visa” demonstrates the grip multiculturalism uber alles has on our sappy State Department.