President Trump on Tuesday demanded Congress end immigration preferences for family members of legal U.S. residents, saying they pose a danger to national security.
Trump said “chain migration” and the diversity visa lottery program are to blame for two recent terror attacks in New York City.
“We’re gonna end both of them,” the president said before signing a defense policy bill at the White House. “We’re going to end ‘em. Fast.”
“Congress must get involved immediately, and they are involved immediately, and I can tell you we have tremendous support,” the president added.
Trump’s comments are the latest example of him using terror attacks to make the case for his immigration agenda.
The issue was pushed back into the national spotlight on Monday, when a man attempted to detonate a bomb in the New York subway system. The explosion failed and the 27-year-old suspect was the only person who suffered serious injuries.
The suspect, Akayed Ullah, came to the U.S. from Bangladesh about seven years ago on a visa for children of siblings of U.S. citizens, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Ullah is a legal permanent resident of the U.S. He reportedly told police he was inspired by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to carry out the attack.
Trump called for an end to the visa lottery last month after a suspect in a separate attack was found to have come to the U.S. using that program.
The president has demanded the termination of the programs as part of a crackdown on what he sees as lax immigration policies in exchange for a legislative fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which he ended last fall.
DACA, which was created by former President Obama, allows young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children to live and work without fear of deportation.
Democrats have rejected Trump’s demands as too extreme.