President Trump overreacted in announcing he would seek to end diversity visa pro-

Dear Editor, US President Donald Trump, in reaction to the Islamic related terror attack in New York on Tuesday afternoon, said he will ask Congress to terminate the Diversity Visa Program (DVP) under which the Uzbek terrorist was granted a green card (through the lottery system) to settle in America. If this were to happen, many countries, including Guyana, would be impacted restricting the kind of immigrants that come to the US. So many would-be immigrants have high hopes of entering the US through this visa lottery programme because they have no relatives to sponsor them to get a green card, and it is a very fast way to get a green card. I have helped individuals from several countries to come to the US through the visa lottery programme and they are all model citizens. The President has overreacted to this terror incident because DVP has not been abused to allow unwanted immigrants into the country. It is just a coincidence that the terrorist came into the US through DVP. There are many terror related killings in the US carried out by American born. Should they or their family be expelled from the country?

Terrorists or bad people can enter the US through a variety of visa programmes. In fact, because of very strict prerequisites and thorough investigation of the background of DVP beneficiaries, it is very difficult for terrorists to get a visa through the programme. Yes a bad guy can slip through the programme as has turned out to be the case regarding the latest Manhattan terrorist of Uzbek Muslim descent. But many bad guys have entered the US through other visa programmes. The terrorists who planned and or executed the 9/11 attacks came through a student visa programme. Other terrorists came through a visitor visa programme.

Many Guyanese and other West Indians have been beneficiaries of the DVP that grants a permanent green card visa which qualifies them for US citizenship after five years of residency. The DVP gives citizens of countries of low green card visa allotments an opportunity to enter into a raffle for a green card visa. They don’t need family sponsorship to enter the raffle. And any adult without a criminal record can apply for it. If someone wins the raffle, he