By Nelson A. King
Caribbean American Democratic
Congresswoman
Yvette D. Clarke on Tuesday
joined New York’s Congresswoman
Grace Meng (NY-06),
Congressman Ritchie Torres
(NY-15) and 46 of their colleagues
in dispatching a letter
to US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken urging the Joe
Biden administration to either
rescind or amend the Diversity
Visa Program and remove the
unnecessary restrictions of the
Passport Rule.
The Diversity Visa Program
was originally created, within
the State Department, to
grant visas to countries with
low immigration rates to the
United States.
The previous Donald Trump
administration made many
unsuccessful attempts to end
the program all together.
But, Clarke, the daughter
of Jamaican immigration
said Trump was, successful to
include “more restrictions and
hurdles for applicants.”
By way of the unnecessary
requirements of the Passport
Rule, applicants from developing
countries, such as those
in the Caribbean, are “too
restricted and overburdened to
participate in the Diversity Visa
Program,” said Clarke, who
represents the 9th Congressional
Caribbean Life, D 6 ecember 10-16, 2021
District in Brooklyn.
“This has significantly
undermined access to the
Diversity Visa Program, as well
as tarnished the symbolism
and spirit in which the program
was enacted; to encourage ‘new
seed’ immigration from regions
and nations that did not send
many immigrants under our
family or employment-based
systems,” she added. “That is
why, I am urging Secretary
Blinken to rescind or amend
the 2019 Interim Final Passport
Rule that requires applicants
to invest in a passport
before they are able to apply for
the program.
“Because the chances of
winning the lottery are very
low and the financial burden
is disproportionately high,
this rule affects millions of
applicants discouraged from
applying due to the costs associated
with obtaining a passport
they may never get to
use,” Clarke continued. “We
are a nation of immigrants
and diversity is not just our
strength, it is our superpower.
It is a fundamental understanding
of our commitment
to human rights. And so, we
must make it easier to accept
newcomers, not harder.
Meng said the Diversity
Visa Program has been
“a long-standing initiative
in our country, promoting a
core value that our nation was
founded on; that people from
all backgrounds can come to
the US in search of a more
prosperous life and to achieve
their American Dream.
“But the Trump administration,
fueled by its anti-immigrant
agenda, implemented
the Passport Rule that placed
massive financial burdens
on immigrants by requiring
Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke. Photo by Nelson A. King
applicants to obtain a passport
before they are able to
enter the Diversity Visa lottery,”
she said. “This Rule is
unconscionable and antithetical
to the original intent of
the Diversity Visa Program.
“We are a nation founded
by immigrants and a nation
made stronger by its diversity,”
Meng added. “Requiring
potential applicants to hold a
passport prior to applying for
the Diversity Visa lottery only
acts as a deterrent to millions
of potential new Americans.
“That is why the Secretary
must take action on this rule,”
she continued. “We eagerly
await his response to our letter.”
Torres said: “The Trump
administration’s xenophobic
immigration policies have left
a hateful stain on our nation’s
legacy.”
Clarke urges Biden to amend
Diversity Visa Program