WASHINGTON: A top American lawmaker today called for "more vetting" of people coming in the US from Pakistan, blaming the country of having large terrorist presence.
President Donald Trump yesterday vowed that he will terminate the popular green card lottery after an ISIS- inspired Uzbek man who entered the US under the programme killed eight people in New York in the deadliest terror attack in the country since 9/11.
"If a person is coming from a country which has a strong terrorist presence, there should be more intense vetting and investigation than there would be from someone not coming from a country similar to that," Congressman Peter King told CNN in an interview.
"Pakistan has a large terrorist presence. They have sent 800 people to Syria to fight alongside ISIS. In that case, there should be more vetting. How you define it is more than you do in the ordinary case," he said.
"...The lottery system itself, to me, it's worked. It's gotten good people into this country. In my experience, in New York, they've gone on to become very productive people," he said.
Igniting a political battle, Trump said the attacker Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, who ploughed a pickup truck down a crowded bike path near the World Trade Centre, was allowed to enter the US on a State Department programme known as the "Diversity Lottery Programme".