Trump Admin Suspends Green Card Lottery, Citing 'Terrorism Concerns'
While the Trump administration was busy painting randomly selected immigrants as potential terrorists, mainstream media largely echoed the 'national security' framing without much deep dive. This allowed for the quiet passage of policies that prioritized xenophobia over any actual threat assessment. The program, designed to diversify the immigrant flow through a lottery system, was paused
following an attack in New York where the perpetrator, Sayfullo Saipov, was reportedly a lottery winner. Yet, the systemic, documented flow of foreign special interest money into US politics — funds that demonstrably influence legislation and foreign policy – somehow never triggered similar 'national security' shutdowns. AIPAC, for instance, has poured millions into US elections; in 2022 alone,
their PACs spent over $27 million, according to OpenSecrets, influencing outcomes across Congress. No suspensions there. No panicked headlines about the existential threat of PAC donations to American sovereignty. So, we're asked to believe the real danger isn't the documented millions influencing our elected officials, but rather a computer selecting a Burmese refugee. One might wonder, how many
terrorist attacks have been directly linked to a green card lottery winner compared to, say, foreign policy decisions made by politicians beholden to special interest groups? It appears some threats are simply more palatable to the narrative than others, especially when they involve large sums of money changing hands legally.