Tom Tancredo: “Let me answer that question, at least a partial answer as to where did they come from? How did they get here? How is it…”

“Let me answer that question, at least a partial answer as to where did they come from? How did they get here? How is it that 895 people from Iraq were given visas? Something else your constituents should know about, something all of our constituents should know about. There is another program operated by the government, we passed it not too long ago. It is called diversity visas. Diversity visas are given to countries that we do not think have actually sent us enough people. As bizarre as this sounds, this is the truth. Congress passed it a few years ago. There are 55,000 allotted every single year. They go to countries, as I say, that it has been determined, it is a formula basis; and if a certain country has not sent us enough people, then they go to the head of the line, these diversity visas, 55,000 of them. The bulk of those 55,000 visas go to countries in the Middle East, Egypt, Iraq, Iran. They are put on the top of the list. So I do not know if the 895 people from Iraq came on that basis. But I am telling you that 55,000 visas are set aside just for those kind of countries. They have not sent us enough people. That is as bizarre as it gets. No, that is not as bizarre as it gets. Believe me, it gets even weirder around here when you start talking about his issue. Tell your constituents this, that of the 31 million people who come here every single year on visas, something like 40 percent violate their visas.”