After reports that the accused perpetrator of Tuesday’s violent attack in New York City entered the United States via Diversity Immigrant Visa, the programme drew sudden and unexpected scrutiny. President Donald Trump stated Wednesday morning that “I am today starting the process of terminating the diversity visa programme,” adding, “It sounds nice. It’s not nice. It’s not good.” Of course, security has to be a priority, but the president’s view of this programme is shortsighted.
Each autumn, cafes and campuses across Africa are transformed when the time comes to enrol in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Programme — the diversity visa lottery. In cities and towns across the continent, there are signs, banners and people with laptops and cameras advertising offers to help register, for a small fee, aspiring entrants. Of the millions who enrol in the lottery worldwide, only about 50,000 are admitted each year to the US. The visa, while a minor component of the US immigration system, has taken on major significance in many African countries, where winning a diversity visa is one of the only ways to emigrate to the US. And ending it would only play into the hands of anti-immigrant hardliners with a narrow view of who belongs in the US, cutting off both an important avenue of African immigration and a vital source of goodwill toward the US.
Since 1995, over 400,000 people from nearly every African country have received diversity visas. This year, 53 African countries are eligible. Larger countries tend to send more diversity immigrants to the US: In 2016, African nations in which more than 1,000 diversity visas were issued include Algeria, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco and Sudan. Nigeria, the largest country on the continent, previously dominated the diversity visa lottery, but is no longer eligible, having now become a what’s known as a “high-sending” country.
Individual visa recipients, their families and their communities have benefited from the visa, particularly through remittances sent back by immigrants, contributing to prosperity and stability in their home countries. One economist who has studied the impact of the visa on Ethiopia found that having a family member win the lottery had a significant positive effect on the family’s standard of living. Visa lottery entrants recognise the benefits that come with being granted a visa and they have tended to attribute those benefits to US generosity.
Promoting interests abroad
The US benefits from this interpretation, as the visa has made the idea of the American Dream concrete for people around the world who otherwise have no opportunity to emigrate to the US. Not only does the programme project an image of America as open and generous, but its name suggests to people that the US is interested in fostering meaningful diversity by welcoming people from everywhere in the world. Diplomats have recognised how the diversity visa aids the US in promoting its interests abroad. After the Pew Global Attitudes Project showed that Morocco had the most favourable view of the US of any predominantly Muslim country, the US mission in Rabat noted in a 2005 cable that Moroccans’ “positive views of US lifestyle and economic opportunity are also reflected in the record number of Moroccans who have won the annual diversity visa lottery.” In a focus group conducted by the American embassy, a participant said, “Everyone dreams of winning the [visa] lottery to go to the US” Yet these kinds of diplomatic considerations are rarely heard during debates about immigration policy, which are often driven by domestic politics instead.
Abruptly ending the visa programme raises the possibility that many people around the world would no longer see the US as a beacon of opportunity. Ending the visa lottery would decrease immigrant visas issued to those countries, and confidence in the US could diminish further. The standing of the US in the world has an impact on our economic and security interests, and the visa lottery is an easy way to strengthen peaceful ties between our country and others. As the US has expanded its military presence in Africa, policymakers should be more attuned to US public diplomacy in the region as well.
To be eligible for the diversity visa, applicants must have at least a high school diploma or its equivalent, or work experience at a skilled job. Not only would America’s image suffer if we ended the visa lottery, but Americans would miss out on attracting talented, ambitious immigrants who are willing to take the leap and bring their skills to the US. Applying for the visa lottery is a lengthy process. After entering the lottery in the fall, winners are selected at random in the spring. Once selected, the participants undergo the same screening that other aspiring immigrants go through. They must submit to a security background check and undergo an interview at the US Embassy in their country of origin.
Congress should resist Trump’s impulse. Ending the visa programme would harm aspiring immigrants, their communities, as well as US interests at home and abroad. For millions of people around the world, if the president gets his way, it would be the end of the American Dream.
— Washington Post.
Carly Goodman is a historian of immigration and American foreign relations. She is a Mellon/ Public Fellow and communications analyst at the American Friends Service Committee.
