Diversity Lottery Must Go, Chain Migration Must End: Donald Trump

In the light of Tuesday's terror attack in Manhattan, US President Donald Trump called for tougher immigration laws. "CHAIN IMMIGRATION must end now" he said in a tweet.

"CHAIN MIGRATION must end now! Some people come in, and they bring their whole family with them, who can be truly evil. NOT ACCEPTABLE!" the president tweeted.

This was directly in reference to the Uzbek man Sayfullo Saipov who mowed down his truck along a bike path killing eight people. Over a dozen were hurt in the incident.

"This man that came in — or whatever you want to call him — brought in, with him, other people," the President said amidst a discussion of proposed changes to immigration policy. "And he was a point, he was the point of contact — the primary point of contact for, and this is preliminarily — 23 people that came in, or potentially came in with him. And that't not acceptable," said Trump.

Trump also said that the diversity visa lottery program must go and instead people must be allowed to enter the country based on their merit alone.

Henceforth, immigrants will be evaluated based on their capacity to contribute to the US economy and awarded points on parameters such as education, career and age. According to the Department of Homeland Security,

Saipov arrived in the U.S. from Uzbekistan in 2010. He presented a passport with a valid diversity immigrant visa to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It's worth mentioning here that it was this "diversity-based lottery" system that awarded Saipov his green card.

"I am going to ask Congress to immediately initiate work to get rid of this program," said the US President addressing a Cabinet meeting at the White House.