Terror in New York City and the Diversity Visa Lottery

Two days ago, Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov rammed a rented truck into more than twenty New Yorkers, while screaming “allahu akbar.” Eight people were murdered and the country is once again asking the simple question: “Why?” But the answer this time is obvious: those eight people are martyrs to a diversity cult, worshipped by the ruling class. Saipov was an Islamic radical from Uzbekistan, who worked as an Uber drive. He was not a physician or an exceptional scientific mind or a business magnet; he was doing a job literally anybody could do. In a country, where we have to this day, a severe shortage of low skilled jobs for the poor in our working class. Why was this man even in our country? Well he was here because this country’s leaders have decided that diversity, in of it, itself, is a greater importance than the wellbeing of this country’s people. That is the truth.

Saipov was admitted to the United States under the so called “diversity lottery”, something you’ve (including myself) likely never heard of before, until today. The diversity lottery was created a long time ago, back in 1990, it offers immigration visa to fifty thousand people every year. Winners are chosen randomly among applicants from countries who have not sent many immigrants to the United States in the past five years. Those immigrants do not have to know English, they do not have to know any skills of any kind; all they need is a high school education or at least two years of experience in certain work fields. They do not need family here in the United States, though once they have been admitted, they are of course allowed to sponsor others to follow suit (it is called chain migration).

Now supposedly, immigrants admitted through the diversity lottery must show that they are nonthreatening and able to support themselves, but we know that is a joke. Our leaders are not even willing to deport criminal gang members who are here illegally. Once when you have arrived in this country, it is almost impossible to get thrown out.

But before getting caught up in all of the depressing details around this, consider the absurdity of the entire system. Diversity lottery? America is not a game show or a mail-in sweepstakes. It is a country. And our government is supposed to represent the interests of the people in this country. Instead, our leaders are treating America as a prize that can be won by anyone on the planet simply for existing. Want to sell diversity scratch-off tickets in convenience stores in Baku, Tashkent, or Ashgabat? It is insane. The whole thing is insane. How do you know that it is insane? Because the very liberals now defending this diversity lottery, and calling you a bigot for raising questions about it, would never in a million years practice a diversity lottery themselves. Would Harvard implement a diversity lottery for admissions? Of course they would not. Harvard wants to be selective and only admit the best. They would never just pick one hundred random applicants based on country of origin without bothering to check their grades or test scores, no way. Do you think Google, Facebook, or MSNBC would hire with a diversity lottery? Just pick people at random without even reading their resumes? Please. Did President Obama hold a diversity lottery when he made judicial appointments? Does the military hold a lottery for promoting officers? No, no, no, no, no. Of course not. Because in all of those organizations, it is obvious that quality matters. You want to pick the best people and allow the organization to flourish.

So how though, and this is the most perverse of all of this, the greatest organization of all, the United States, has decided that quality is irrelevant. Diversity has become an end in itself.

Who’s responsible for this? Well, it is not a partisan project. Leaders in both parties decided a diversity lottery sounded like a great idea. Senator Chucky Schumer of New York introduced the 1990 bill, creating this visa system when he was still in the House of Representatives. In 2006, he could tell that the diversity lottery was working perfectly because he could see immigrants while riding his bike.

“This is an excellent program. And nobody has said that it’s done a bad job. It’s small. There are only about fifty thousand visas a year. As I ride my bike around New York City on the weekends, I see what immigrants do for America. And this program has dramatically helped.”- SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, D-N.Y. ON THE SENATE FLOOR MAY 24TH, 2006

Now, ironies of ironies, bicyclists have themselves become targets of an extremist whose admitted into the country thanks to Schumer’s grand vision, an “excellent program.” So “excellent” in fact, in 2009, congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee of Texas, lobbied to double the number of diversity lottery visas to one hundred thousand. The only surprise is that she did not ask for five hundred thousand or one million. Why not? “Diversity is our strength”, right?

But republicans, to be fair, played their part as well (a lot of them). Five Senate republicans, still office today, voted for the law that created the diversity lottery. They are Thad Cochran of Mississippi, John McCain of Arizona, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and now majority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Cochran, McCain, and Grassely all say that they want the diversity lottery abolished. Will the rest come around? We’ll be watching.

What about the Democrats? Congress is, of course, hopelessly divided on immigration, but we could at least unite on the principle that immigrants ought to be chosen because they can benefit this country. You would think that would be an easy one. Many lawmakers would deflect if you asked them. They say they want the program ended as part of what they are calling “comprehensive immigration reform”. But there’s no need for that. It’s an excuse offered by lawmakers to do nothing as they have done for decades. Congress could in fact end the program tomorrow without touching any other part of the immigration system. If Congress actually cared about the well-being of this country they would of course do that. But sadly it seems unlikely any of this is going to happen. Why? You know why.

The truth is our ruling class prefers immigrants to Americans. They don’t say that out loud, they don’t need to say it out loud. Watch how they act. Who are they more worried about? The so-called dreamers here illegally, or the sixty thousand American citizens who died of drug over doses last year? It’s not even close.

Our elites see Americans as beyond hope and worse than that, dangerous. Just this week, you watched an ad in the Virginia governor’s race premised on the notion that the biggest threat to this country is pickup-driving Trump voters who want to run over Muslim children. Even though, if you want to get factual about it, in a country with sixty three million Trump voters, that has never happened.

Meanwhile, an Islamic extremist literally just ran over people with a truck. Yet authorities, as they always do raced to treat that as an isolated incident, a lone wolf attack with no implications for American policy. Are our leaders lying to us? Are they blind? Both, probably.

Diversity is their religion. And in their own way, they’re religious extremists. When the safety and well-being of Americans conflicts with their faith, they will choose their faith every time.

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Illegals Foregoing Food Stamps Over Deportation Fears

Yahoo News ran a very interesting article last week about what they claim is a recent uptick in illegal aliens declining food stamp aid out of fears of deportation, naturally due to President Trump’s policy-leanings when it comes to illegal immigration.

The post was light on stats but heavy on emotion as it wove tragic tales of hard-working illegals being forced to choose between food and deportation.

A crackdown on illegal immigration under President Donald Trump has driven some poor people to take a drastic step: opt out of federal food assistance because they are fearful of deportation, activists and immigrants say…

…A 52-year-old woman interviewed in New York City, a Mexican in the country illegally, told The Associated Press she was motivated in January to drop a benefit that was supporting her teenage daughter, a U.S. citizen, purely because she was afraid of being in the food stamp system, which requires applicants to state their immigration status.

“I had been told that it’s OK to apply for food stamps. But, for the moment, I don’t want to take any risks,” said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of her immigration status and was introduced to AP through an organization that helps immigrants, the Mexican Coalition of the South Bronx.

“I need it but I have peace of mind because my case is closed,” said the woman, who makes $8.50 an hour cleaning houses and lives in small apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

A Honduran immigrant and single mother with one child in Silver Spring, Maryland, decided not to renew the food stamps she received when they expired in January. “We fear deportation,” said the 29-year-old immigrant, who also spoke on condition of anonymity and was introduced to AP through a local nonprofit. She normally earns about $350 per week answering phones at a travel agency but has been working extra hours cleaning homes to make up for the loss of about $150 per month in food stamps.

The idea that people are actually opting out of food stamps over deportation actually boosts the idea that our welfare programs are bloated and wasteful. Since I haven’t seen any recent stories about illegal immigrants dropping dead in the streets from starvation it is safe to assume they’re finding a way to feed themselves. Yes, it might be a struggle but there is no constitutional right to never struggle. Is their struggle here in America worse than their struggle in whatever country they fled?

Welfare isn’t just a form of financial aid, it’s a state of mind. When the money was there and trouble-free, people who are otherwise healthy and able to earn a living took advantage of it. When the money came with certain standards suddenly many of those people are finding alternatives to the free help. They’re helping themselves. How many other legal citizens on food stamps might be inclined to earn their grocery budget through other means if they were held to stricter standards?

The Department of Agriculture administers the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) and their own guidelines are contradictory. While requirements  for qualifying for SNAP include being a legal resident or refugee…

…if you dig long enough you can find a statement in PDF form that reassures illegals that they will not be reported or deported for receiving food stamp benefits.

This is a government agency blatantly flouting the law of the land, rewarding law-breakers and contradicting the mission of a fellow government agency, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

It is no wonder that average, hard-working Americans are feeling taxed beyond their abilities and financially stressed beyond reason. Many of are bearing the burden of their own families and communities as well as that of people who obviously can survive without taxpayer money but choose not to.

Reading the Yahoo article, it isn’t hard to understand why so many people have such vocal problems with the current state of immigration in our country. Americans feel left behind by their own government, which consistently takes the side of illegal aliens who flout our laws, avail themselves of benefits they don’t need and don’t pay for, and then ungratefully shame and ridicule those Americans who say they can give no more.

The REAL State of the Union

The economy is getting stronger, but wages are still rather stagnant. A tax cut for working Americans might change that consumers would likely increase spending, leading business to expand. The more needed labor, the higher wages will go. If President Trump announces a big expansion of infrastructure construction, that will stimulate the job market as well. So across-the-board tax cuts and spending on roads, etc. is what’s needed right now. Of course that’ll drive up the national debt, something I’ll talk about shortly.

On national security, the president is committed to building up the military. It’s necessary, but must be done methodically. Trump is essentially correct when he says that the US has squandered trillions of dollars in the Middle East. What have we achieved there? Islamic terrorist groups are still a threat. Millions of refugees need care. Iran remains an enemy. Iraq and Afghanistan are in chaos. Two presidents tried and failed to bring stability to the Middle East using American blood and treasure. The goal was noble, but the plans flawed (to say the least). The truth is that President Bush’s confrontation and President Obama’s retreat didn’t make things better in that brutal region. Can Donald Trump do better? No one knows. 

Also on the security front, there will be a partial wall on the southern border (something that I’ve talked about before) and increased enforcement on immigration law. The wall is largely a symbol. The enforcement is a message that the president won’t accept open borders and violators of US law. Immigration policy must be enforced methodically, with explanations to the American people about why things are happening. Open border and sanctuary cities supporters have the media with them, so the president has to explain how his policies benefits the US. He should also be humane in this area. Desperate, hardworking people don’t deserve harsh punishment.

Thus, Congress needs to get off of its collective butt and pass updated immigration laws. The issue is so intense that at Trump’s address, Democrats brought undocumented people as guests and President Trump invited families whose loved ones had been killed by illegal alien criminals.

After immigration, the economy, and security-terrorism, the problems are a lot smaller. Except for the debt. It will continue to rise well past $20 trillion until health care and Social Security spending are redefined. Trump knows that he has to run up even more debt to accomplish his agenda. Cutting some programs won’t balance things out. Trump hopes that prosperity will eventually bring in more tax money. But that’s way far down the road. To bring down the debt, Social Security and Medicare payments must be restructured for younger Americans. But President Trump wants no part in that. 

Finally, if Trump is successful in raising wages, the culture war stuff will begin to go his way. Socialists like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren will be crushed if capitalism makes a comeback. Americans are tired of left-wing totalitarianism. Most of us have had it with extremism on both sides. 

The truth is America remains a citadel of opportunity and common sense views held by regular people. But that profile has been smothered by big government zealots, ideological fanatics, and a media that promotes PC culture. If Trump’s vision brings increased prosperity and security, he will trounce his enemies. If economic opportunity rises in America, all of the class warfare B.S. will be harder to sell. But in order for that to happen, American needs to be unleashed.