There's been much concern since the recent terror attack in New York City about America's generous Diversity Visa Lottery Program, which randomly selects people from a list of countries that include terror hotbeds.

One of the lottery winners was Sayfullo Saipov, the Islamic terrorist who rented a Home Depot truck and drove down a bike path in New York City last week, killing at least eight people.

People are wondering how he was approved to come to the U.S.

Now a legal team has written a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urging him to end the lottery program.

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The American Center for Law and Justice said it wrote to Tillerson explaining his authority "to immediately close the legal loophole used by the terrorist Sayfulo Saipov to enter the United States."

America is headed down a suicidal path and not many Americans understand the full extent of the problem. Get all the details in Leo Hohmann's "Stealth Invasion: Muslim Conquest Through Immigration and Resettlement Jihad," available now in hard copy or e-book at the WND Superstore.

"There is no reason this program should remain in effect any longer. We must protect American lives," the group said.

"Seven years earlier, Saipov entered the United States legally through the Diversity Visa Program. This program is a legal loophole, rife with fraud and is detrimental to our national security. We believe every legal action must be taken to prevent this sort of cowardly act from ever happening again. That means closing this loophole," the organization said.

In his organization's letter to Tillerson, the ACLJ's Jay Sekulow said: "The Diversity Visa Program was created in 1990 by the Immigration and Nationality Act. … Four of the top 10 lottery winning countries under this program 'are on the government's watch list of terrorism-connected countries.'"

Saipov's home country, Uzbekistan, is No. 5 on that list.

He continued: "In 2007, the Government Accountability Office issued a report finding, among other things, that the Diversity Visa Program is 'vulnerable to fraud committed by and against' applicants and 'posed significant risks to national security from hostile intelligence officers, criminals, and terrorists attempt to use the program for entry into the United States as permanent residents …' The report also recognized the 'Department of Homeland Security, terrorism experts, and federal law enforcement officials familiar with immigration fraud believe that some individuals, including terrorists and criminals, could use fraudulent means to enter or remain in the United States' through this program.'"

The letter pointed out that federal laws require the attorney general to establish parameters for the issuance of diversity visas. The secretary of state then issues them "strictly in a random order."

But the secretary also has the "unreviewable discretionary authority to revoke the issuance of any visas or other documents," the letter pointed out.

"We believe it is prudent for you to take immediate action pending a permanent legislative solution from Congress. We believe you should exercise your statutory authority to revoke all diversity visas issued from this point forward concurrently with their statutorily required issuance and, in light of recent Supreme Court guidance, before any visa recipient has established substantial ties to the United States."

The ACLJ pointed out that on Oct. 31, Saipov, who pledged his allegiance to ISIS, used a rented truck to mow down innocent pedestrians in the streets of New York City. His brutal rampage left eight dead and more than a dozen injured in the deadliest terror attack in New York since 9/11.

America is headed down a suicidal path, and not many Americans understand the full extent of the problem. Get all the details in Leo Hohmann's "Stealth Invasion: Muslim Conquest Through Immigration and Resettlement Jihad," available now in hard copy or e-book at the WND Superstore.