cbc.house.gov | Today, the
Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressman Cedric L.
Richmond (D-LA-02), sent a letter to President Trump criticizing his
immigration proposal as “unreasonable” and “un-American” because it
unnecessarily pits black and brown immigrants against each other.
Months ago, President Trump agreed to sign the DREAM Act into law,
legislation that would primarily benefit Latino immigrants who were
brought to the United States as children through no fault of their own,
if and only if Congress funded additional border security measures. Now,
the President is calling for an end to the Diversity Immigrant Visa
(DV) Program, a program that primarily benefits African and Asian
immigrants and is mischaracterized by him as a “lottery” for
low-skilled immigrants who have little to contribute to America. While
immigrants are randomly selected for the DV program, they are required
to have a high-school degree or equivalent work experience and endure a
rigorous screening process. In fact, DV recipients are generally better
educated than Americans born in the United States. In 2016, for example,
half of DV recipients had a college degree, compared to just 32 percent
of the overall United States population.
Republican and Democratic leadership in the House and the Senate were
copied on the letter. Full text of the letter is attached and online. Excerpts from the letter are below.
Pitting Black and Brown Immigrants Against Each Other
“On behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus, I write today to
express our complete disgust with your unreasonable immigration
proposal, particularly your insistence upon the elimination of the
Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) Program. Your framework explicitly pits
Dreamers, young Americans who know no other country, against the legal
immigration system, one which provides an opportunity for immigrants of
color to fight for a chance at the American Dream. Sadly, your strategy
was predictable in light of your long, troubled history with race in
this country. We vehemently oppose your blatantly callous strategy to
divide and conquer communities of color and call on Members of Congress
to reject your proposal, lest they be complicit in advancing your
racially discriminatory policies.”
Mischaracterizing the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program
“Moreover, your calls to end the [DV program] lack any reasonable
basis. First, you portray the program as a giveaway to immigrants
randomly selected by a lottery. While a lottery system is used to
administer this extremely overly-subscribed visa program in an unbiased
fashion, applicants nonetheless undergo a rigorous vetting process and
extensive screening. Second, you claim the program is a threat to
national security because it creates a pathway for terrorists and
criminals. The very nature of the diversity visa lottery is an
ineffective tool for terrorists. In 2015, 9.4 million people applied for
50,000 visas. Even if a terrorist beat the 1 in 188 odds of being
selected for the program, that person would still have to complete the
normal vetting process for any other green card holder.
Additionally,
diversity visa recipients have a far lower rate of incarceration
compared to native-born Americans. For example, in 2015, immigrants from
the top 20 diversity visa countries had an incarceration rate just
one-fifth of the incarceration rate of native-born Americans. Lastly,
you continuously characterize diversity visa recipients as low-skilled
workers with little to contribute to American society. While America
should continue to welcome the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to
breathe free, your characterization of diversity visa recipients is
simply false. Applicants are already required to have a high school
education or equivalent work experience. Moreover, diversity visa
recipients have been generally better educated than Americans born in
the United States. For example, in 2016, half of diversity visa
recipients had a college degree, compared to just 32 percent of the
overall United States population.”
Creating the DACA Crisis
“To be clear, the crisis we face is one of your own making. Dreamers
enjoyed legal status under the Obama-era policy of Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which you unilaterally ended last fall. Now,
despite your commitment to sign the Dream Act into law if accompanied by
border security measures, you continue to thwart bipartisan efforts to
find a solution for Dreamers by attacking the legal immigration system.
To suggest that we are any less committed to a permanent solution for
Dreamers because we refuse to acquiesce to your racially discriminatory
policies is preposterous. We refuse to choose between Dreamers and
African immigrants. They both have and deserve our full-throated
support.”
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