Okay Trump  let 's talk about 'merit' and immigration
President Trump in the lobby of Trump Tower in August. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Still  I never would have imagined that an act of mass violence allegedly committed by a man from Uzbekistan would spur me to go on the defensive for Africans. But itâs Trumpâs America  so anything is possible  I guess.
Sayfullo Saipov  an Uzbekistan national  is accused of killing eight and injuring 11 by plowing a pickup truck through a crowd of people in Manhattan. He came to the United States in 2010 on a diversity visa.  President Trump  tweeted  âThe terrorist came into our country through what is called the âDiversity Visa Lottery Program â a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based.â
The diversity lottery  more commonly known until recently as the green-card lottery  was created in 1990 to give an edge to underrepresented European countries in the immigration process. Since its inception though  the diversity lottery has become more often used by Africans seeking ways to enter the United States. Between 1994 and 2015  Africans accounted for more than 415 000 immigrants to the United States on the diversity visa program. According to the Pew Research foundation  in 2015  Ghana was the country with the highest number of applications (about 1.7 million) for the diversity visa lottery program. As a daughter of Ghanaian and Nigerian immigrants  I have friends and family who have benefited from the diversity visa lottery system.  Trump  could stand to learn a little bit about Ghanaians and our âmeritâ here in the States.
It was a son of a Ghanaian immigrants who made news earlier this year for  his  acceptance into all eight of the Ivy league schools. Ghanaian British designer David Adjaye was the architectural genius who designed the National Museum of African American history. Remember Freddy Adu  the young soccer phenom of the early aughts? His mother came to the United States on a diversity visa from Ghana.
Despite Trumpâs efforts  immigration is an American beauty. The diversity lottery is a part of that American promise of a better life. I love the freedoms that the United States affords. But itâs hard not to resent the fact that people with immigrant backgrounds like me have to constantly prove that we are worthy of belonging here.
[TGT] . (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Still  I never would have imagined that an act of mass violence allegedly committed by a man from Uzbekistan would spur me to go on the defensive for Africans. But itâs Trumpâs America  so anything is possible  I guess.
Sayfullo Saipov  an Uzbekistan national  is accused of killing eight and injuring 11 by plowing a pickup truck through a crowd of people in Manhattan. He came to the United States in 2010 on a diversity visa.   [TGT] tweeted  âThe terrorist came into our country through what is called the âDiversity Visa Lottery Program â a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based.â
The diversity lottery  more commonly known until recently as the green-card lottery  was created in 1990 to give an edge to underrepresented European countries in the immigration process. Since its inception though  the diversity lottery has become more often used by Africans seeking ways to enter the United States. Between 1994 and 2015  Africans accounted for more than 415 000 immigrants to the United States on the diversity visa program. According to the Pew Research foundation  in 2015  Ghana was the country with the highest number of applications (about 1.7 million) for the diversity visa lottery program. As a daughter of Ghanaian and Nigerian immigrants  I have friends and family who have benefited from the diversity visa lottery system.   [TGT] could stand to learn a little bit about Ghanaians and our âmeritâ here in the States.
It was a son of a Ghanaian immigrants who made news earlier this year for   [TGT]   acceptance into all eight of the Ivy league schools. Ghanaian British designer David Adjaye was the architectural genius who designed the National Museum of African American history. Remember Freddy Adu  the young soccer phenom of the early aughts? His mother came to the United States on a diversity visa from Ghana.
Despite Trumpâs efforts  immigration is an American beauty. The diversity lottery is a part of that American promise of a better life. I love the freedoms that the United States affords. But itâs hard not to resent the fact that people with immigrant backgrounds like me have to constantly prove that we are worthy of belonging here.