Among the winners are a family of software engineers from Bulgaria, a physician and his lawyer wife from from Romania, and hundreds of thousands of others from around the world.
On Wednesday, the program became best known as the entrance portal for Sayfullo Saipov, a 29-year-old man from Uzbekistan who came to this country on a diversity visa seven years ago and is accused of mowing down pedestrians and cyclists on a Manhattan bike path this week.
President Donald Trump — who along with some Republican lawmakers had previously called for ending the Diversity Visa lottery program — doubled down Wednesday, saying before a Cabinet meeting, "We need to get rid of the lottery program as soon as possible.