Trump blames US green card lottery program after deadly NY attack

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday blamed the deadly New York attack by an Uzbek immigrant on the US green card lottery program and called for visas to be awarded only on “merit.”

Trump said Sayfullo Saipov, who plowed a rented truck into cyclists and pedestrians on a New York City bike path Tuesday, killing eight, was allowed into the United States on a State Department program known as the “Diversity Lottery Program” established in 1990.

He blamed the program on Senator Chuck Schumer, the senior Democratic senator from New York, even though it was resoundingly supported by both parties and signed into law by a Republican president, George HW Bush.

“The terrorist came into our country through what is called the ‘Diversity Visa Lottery Program,’ a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based” immigration, Trump tweeted.

“We are fighting hard for Merit Based immigration, no more Democrat Lottery Systems. We must get MUCH tougher (and smarter),” he added.

Saipov, 29, was reported to have arrived in the United States from Uzbekistan in 2010.

Unconfirmed news reports said he entered the country on the State Department program, which aimed to diversify the origins of people granted permanent residence — so-called green cards — in the United States.

The program awards 50,000 residence visas annually.