http://indianexpress.com/article/wo...-visa-program-a-chuck-schumer-beauty-4918090/
Earlier Wednesday, Trump called the visa program "a Chuck Schumer beauty," a reference to the Senate's Democratic leader.
By:
AP | Washington | Updated: November 1, 2017 11:25 pm
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, left, and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, right, listen as President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesdayin Washington. (Source: AP Photo)
Denouncing the suspect as an "animal," President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged tougher immigration measures based on skills and other merit rather than a lottery after the deadly truck attack in New York City.
Trump noted during a Cabinet meeting that the driver in Tuesday’s attack entered the country through the "Diversity Visa Lottery Program" and called on Congress to "immediately" begin working to eliminate the program, which applies to countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. Trump added,
"We have to get much tougher, much smarter, and less politically correct."
Earlier Wednesday, Trump called the visa program "a Chuck Schumer beauty" _ a reference to the Senate’s Democratic leader.
Schumer fired back from the Senate floor, accusing Trump of "politicizing" the tragedy.
Officials said the attacker is an immigrant from Uzbekistan. Department of Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Houlton said he entered the United States legally under the diversity visa program in 2010.
Trump has backed legislation that would curb legal immigration and shift the nation toward a system that would place an emphasis on merit and skills over family ties.
The comments followed Trump’s Tuesday night statement that he had ordered DHS "to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program." Trump’s policy entails more stringent investigative measures intended to identify would-be immigrants who may sympathize with extremists or pose a national security risk to the United States.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump proposed a total ban on Muslim immigration to the U.S. before embracing "extreme vetting." Trump’s efforts to block immigrants from several Muslim-majority countries have been tied up in federal courts.
The diversity visa program provides up to 50,000 visas annually by lottery. Applicants must have a high school diploma or meet work experience requirements. It was created as part of a bipartisan immigration bill introduced by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and signed into law by Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1990.
Schumer, a New York Democrat who was a member of the House of Representatives at the time, proposed a program for "diversity immigrants" in a bill he offered earlier that year.
Speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday, Schumer said he has "always believed that immigration is good for America." He also criticized Trump for "politicizing" the deadly attack, comparing his response to President George. W. Bush’s after 9/11.
"President Trump, where is your leadership?" Schumer asked. "The contrast between President Bush’s actions after 9/11 and President Trump’s actions this morning could not be starker."
He said Trump actually had proposed cutting anti-terrorism funding in his most recent budget.
"I’m calling on President Trump to rescind his proposed cuts to this vital anti-terrorism funding immediately," Schumer said.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said on Twitter that Trump was unfairly blaming Schumer for the diversity visa program. Flake, one of Trump’s chief Republican foes in Congress, said Schumer was among a group of eight Republican and Democratic senators who proposed eliminating the program three years ago as part of a broader bipartisan bill to overhaul U.S. immigration laws.
Flake, who served on that "Gang of Eight" with Schumer, said: "I know. I was there."
The immigration bill ultimately failed in the GOP-led House after passing the Senate in June 2013, 68-32, with 14 Republicans joining Democrats.
Flake recently announced he’s not running for re-election but says he won’t be silent about Trump’s politics and behavior.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world...r-on-terror/story-Mrwo0jYty81NWIcKhgY0zL.html
The
attack in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday is one of a number of major terrorist attack on US soil that has been carried out by those who have claimed inspiration from Islamist terror groups like al Qaeda or IS. It is the latest attack of its kind since the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 that left nearly 3,000 people dead and prompted president George W Bush to launch military action against the al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Here is a timeline of other major terror attacks in the US:
July 4, 2002
Hesham Muhammad Hadayet, an Egyptian national with a green card giving him permanent status in the US, killed two people and wounded four at an El Al ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport. Hadayet also died. The FBI later concluded that it was an act of terrorism but that Hadayet was acting alone.
June 1, 2009
In 2009, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, an American-born convert to Islam, opened fire on an army recruiting office in Little Rock, Arkansas. Muhammad killed one soldier and wounded another. Muhammad, who previously lived in Yemen, claimed to be a member of the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. His lawyers produced an expert who testified that he was delusional and Muhammad eventually pled guilty to avoid the death penalty.
November 5, 2009
Army major Nidal Hasan opened fire in the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood, Texas. The American-born Hasan killed 13 fellow soldiers and wounded 32. Hasan was also paralysed in the attack. At his trial, he declared himself to be at war with America and investigators found that although he acted alone, he had accessed jihadist websites. Hasan was sentenced to death and is currently incarcerated in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
April 15, 2013
The Boston Marathon bombing attack was carried out by two brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The bomb placed at the finish line of the Boston Marathon killed three people and injured 264. The two later killed Sean Collins, an MIT police officer. In addition, in a firefight between the brothers and police, 16 officers were injured and another later died. Tamerlan, the older brother, died after he was shot by police and his brother ran over him in a car in an attempt to escape. Dzhokhar was apprehended and sentenced to death in federal court. The two Kyrgyz-American immigrants had been self-radicalised but learned to make their bomb from the al Qaeda online magazine Inspire.
July 16, 2015
Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez attacked both a marine recruiting office and US Navy reserve centre. Abdulazeez first opened fire on the recruiting office from a car, wounding a recruiter inside. He then drove to a Navy reserve centre where he killed four marines and one seaman before police officers killed him. Abdulazeez was an American citizen born in Kuwait. Former FBI director James Comey later said Abdulazeez was “motivated by foreign terrorist organisation propaganda”.
December 15, 2015
A married couple, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tasheen Malik, opened fire on a Christmas party at the San Bernandino County Department of Public Health, where Farook worked. Fourteen people died and 24 were injured. Farook was born in the US and Malik was a Pakistani immigrant who married Farook in Saudi Arabia after they met on the internet. The two were later killed in a shootout with police. The FBI later described the two as “homegrown violent extremists” and found that they had radicalized before they met online.
June 12, 2016
American-born Omar Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 58 at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. In calls made during his rampage at the gay nightclub, Mateen pledged allegiance to IS. After his initial assault, the attack into a hostage situation that lasted for nearly three hours. Eventually police stormed the nightclub and killed Mateen in a shootout. President Barack Obama later said that Mateen was “inspired by various extremist information that was disseminated over the internet”.