Donal Trump, president of the US, was quick to make comments on this tragedy. He insisted that the US would 'get rid' of the lottery programme as soon as possible - this is a scheme that gives 500,000 permission to live in the USA out of millions that apply. Once their VISA application is accepted (the requirements are extremely strict and many criminal checks are carried out) the 500,000 'lottery winners' are chosen at random. This programme is called the 'Diversity Immigrant Visa' - it aims to bring in migrants from diverse backgrounds. It was under this VISA that the New York attacker moved to the US several years ago. The attacker was from Uzbekistan - not one of the country's that President Trump banned travel from when he first came into power.
President Trump insisted that canceling this VISA programme was vital to ensure the US's safety - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/41811782/new-york-attack-trump-says-we-must-get-tougher.
Do you agree?
Complete your own research and write a short essay (100 - 200 words) with your opinion.
Feel free to share your essay with me - marjmr@waingels.wokingham.sch.uk
Cancelling this VISA programme is only going to wrongly instigate more fear into the people of America about the population of these countries, which could lead to more people converting to extremism and want to complete in terrorism in order to fight America, which they believe is against them as they don't want people of their religion or ethnicity in America. As well as this, the VISA programme allows asylum seekers from Syria and Iraq that are suffering from the effects of terrorism, such as destruction of their home and the constant threat of death, to enter the USA. These people are looking for a safe place to live in order to escape this. This means that removing this VISA programme would mean that these people can’t escape from the terror, and the threats. Overall, I believe that Trump is very wrong to instigate this ban as it would create fear in the American people leading to Islamophobia, it could cause terrorism to increase and it would mean that the population of these countries cannot escape from the terror in their own country.
ReplyDeleteI disagree as I believe that getting rid of the diversity programme wouldn't help at all it would just make things worse. The fact that he believes that one individual coming in through this programme makes it awful is stupid and ridiculous. It would also give the idea that the immigrants who go into America are useless and aren't wanted whereas statistics show how important they are to the economy and other parts of the American economy. This would probably cause more people to turn against America as they would see it as a racist place where people aren't accepted. Which could ultimately lead more people to turn against America as their lives could be changed if they don't have this diversity visa programme which would only worsen the situation.So in my eyes I believe that doing this to the diversity programme would be the completely wrong and opposite thing to do during that time.
ReplyDeleteI don't think stopping the VISA programme would necessarily make the United States a safer place. I think the idea of the Diversity Immigrant Visa is a good one for everyone involved. It creates more diversity in the US and for the applicants it provides a fair system where they won’t be discriminated against. Furthermore, in this event the terrorist became radicalised in America rather than Uzbekistan. There was thorough checks on each immigrant entering the USA, I think it would be a mistake Trump to cancel this programme, this is one of the first examples of a negative to it after being in place for a while.
ReplyDeleteStopping the VISA programme isn't a good idea, and I don't think it would benefit the USA much if it were to be stopped. If this VISA programme hadn't have existed, the attack would not have happened, but this is just a single attack - thousands more die in gun related attacks by American citizens as opposed to foreign terrorists that have been living in the US, for example in school shootings. However, I think that all immigrants must be checked and be perfectly legal to enter and live in the USA before they do so, and the police and American public in general should try to be as aware as they can be of any places or establishments where people like this Uzbek man are being radicalised. However, in a massive country such as the USA with over 320 million people, it is important not to forget that there are so many people to be controlled, so attacks like this are almost inevitable every now and then, whether it's an immigrant or an American citizen who does it. So overall, I think that the VISA programme should not be cancelled, but the US should still carry out appropriate checks on immigrants to ensure they are safe people to have in the community.
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