Trump says will terminate green card lottery program

US President Donald Trump says he will end the popular US green card lottery after a radicalized Uzbek man who entered the country under the program killed eight people in New York.

“I am starting the process of terminating the diversity lottery program,” Trump tells reporters.

“We have to do what’s right to protect our citizens,” he says. “We will get rid of this lottery program as soon as possible.”

The 1990 program awards US permanent resident visas to around 50,000 applicants from around the world each year, opening the door as well for members of their broader families to follow them, so-called chain migration.

According to Trump, Sayfullo Saipov, who plowed a rented truck into cyclists and pedestrians on a New York City bike path Tuesday, came to the country via the program.

— AP

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