President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that NYC attacker was responsible for the entry of as many as 23 other immigrants into the U.S. via a process sometimes called chain migration | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo Trump open to sending New York terror suspect to Gitmo The president also calls for Congress to end the visa lottery program that allowed Saipov to enter the country legally in 2010.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would consider sending the New York City terror attack suspect to the Guantanamo Bay prison — a move that would be unprecedented — as he called the U.S. justice system a "laughingstock."

Trump sought to project swift action as more details emerged about Sayfullo Saipov, a 29-year-old immigrant from Uzbekistan who officials believe killed eight people by driving a truck down a crowded bike path on Tuesday, later waving a pellet and paintball gun while shouting “God is great” in Arabic before being shot in the stomach by police.


Trump called for Congress to end the diversity visa lottery program that allowed Saipov to come to the U.S. legally in 2010, while also attacking Democrats, particularly Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, for advocating the program more than 20 years ago.

"Diversity lottery. Sounds nice. It's not nice. It's not good. It's not good. It hasn't been good, and we've been against it,” the president said in remarks at the start of a cabinet meeting at the White House.

When asked by reporters whether he wants Saipov sent to Guantanamo, Trump said he’s open to pursuing that option. “I would certainly consider that. Send him to Gitmo — I would certainly consider that, yes,” Trump replied.

It's not clear, however, how actively Trump is weighing the move, especially as authorities are still learning more about Saipov, nor was it evident how much resistance he would get from fierce critics of the U.S. military prison.

Sending Saipov to Guantanamo Bay was complicated by the Justice Department formally charging him in civilian court on Wednesday. While doing so doesn't foreclose transferring him to military detention, or sending him to the military base in Cuba, it would make that process significantly more complicated.

Trump, who campaigned with an aggressive anti-terror message, including sending more terrorists to Guantanamo, on Wednesday also said the U.S. must implement tougher punishments for terror-related suspects than what “these animals are getting right now.”

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“We … have to come up with punishment that's far quicker and far greater than the punishment these animals are getting right now. They'll go through court for years. And at the end, they'll be — who knows what happens,” Trump said.

He added, “We need quick justice and we need strong justice — much quicker and much stronger than we have right now. Because what we have right now is a joke and it's a laughingstock.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later said the White House considers Saipov to be an “enemy combatant,” a designation that would grant him fewer rights than other detainees.

American officials have never sent a terrorism suspect from U.S. soil to Guantanamo, although President George W. Bush designated three individuals as enemy combatants and held them in military custody in the U.S.

Trump was not alone in calling for forceful action against Saipov. The Senate's two most vocal defense hawks, Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, urged the Trump administration to hold him as a wartime enemy combatant.

McCain also called for Saipov to be held at Guantanamo. “Take him to Guantanamo," McCain said when asked what should happen to the suspect. The Trump administration, the Arizona Republican added, should "say he’s a terrorist, and he should be kept there [in Guantanamo]...There’s no Miranda rights for somebody who kills Americans.”

For years, the Obama administration fought Republicans on Capitol Hill over their moves to close the military prison in Cuba and move detainees to the United States. And though Congress repeatedly blocked Obama from closing the prison, the administration still whittled down the number of detainees held there through transfers to other nations.

However, many experts said the cumbersome, slow and trouble-plagued military commission system is unlikely to deliver the kind of swift justice Trump demanded Wednesday.

“If the president truly wants ‘quick justice’ and ‘strong justice,’ he should never consider designating this suspect as an 'enemy combatant' or sending him to Guantanamo Bay,” retired Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Charles Krulak said. “Federal courts have a track record of fairly and expeditiously dealing with terrorism suspects, having handled more than six hundred cases since 9/11. The criminal justice process has enabled our government to gather timely, actionable intelligence to drive our counterterrorism efforts.”

Trump’s tough posture comes as information is still emerging about the attack. The FBI said on Wednesday that is seeking information about a second Uzbek man as part of its investigation, and police officials said Saipov appeared to have connections to individuals who were the subjects of terrorism investigations.

Late on Wednesday, Joon Kim, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that Saipov had been charged with federal crimes of terrorism.

"A man consumed by hate and a twisted ideology attacked our country and our city,” Kim said, adding, "We have developed evidence establishing that Saipov committed this attack in support of ISIS."

While it’s unclear what criminal justice path Trump and other authorities will ultimately choose for Saipov, the president has been more direct in saying the diversity visa lottery program created more than 20 years ago must end.

“The terrorist came into our country through what is called the 'Diversity Visa Lottery Program,' a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based,” Trump wrote on Twitter Wednesday morning, adding that there would be “no more Democrat Lottery Systems. We must get MUCH tougher (and smarter).”

Sanders said Wednesday afternoon that Trump did not intend to blame Schumer for the attack in the state he represents but that "we do think that there are policies that could be put in place that help protect American citizens."

Trump suggested Wednesday that Saipov was responsible for the entry of as many as 23 other immigrants into the U.S. via a process sometimes called chain migration, by which family members of a legal immigrant are given a smoother path to entry. Trump did not offer a source for his assertion that Saipov had helped facilitate the movement of others into the country.

The diversity program offers visas to individuals from nations that otherwise have relatively few immigrants in the U.S. The program’s origins are based in a 1990 bill introduced by Schumer, who was then a member of the House, that was then absorbed into a larger immigration bill co-sponsored by 32 lawmakers, a group that included Schumer and six Republicans.

Trump's decision to lash out at Schumer quickly prompted criticism that he was reverting to politics at an inappropriate time. Schumer urged him to push for more antiterrorism funding from Congress.

“I have always believed and continue to believe that immigration is good for America. President Trump, instead of politicizing and dividing America, which he always seems to do at times of national tragedy, should be focusing on the real solution — anti-terrorism funding — which he proposed cutting in his most recent budget," Schumer said. “I’m calling on the President to immediately rescind his proposed cuts to this vital anti-terrorism funding.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed, telling CNN's "New Day" that "the last thing the president or anyone else should do is politicize this tragedy. ... The last thing we should do is start casting aspersions on whole races of people or whole religions or whole nations. That only makes the situation worse."

Both de Blasio and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said they had received phone calls and offers of federal assistance from acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke, and de Blasio said he had also spoken Tuesday to White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert. Later Wednesday, Sanders said Trump had spoken to both de Blasio and Cuomo.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Duke and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) requested information on Saipov, including his immigration history, criminal record and whether he has ever been placed on any terrorism watch lists. A copy of Grassley's letter was also sent to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the committee's ranking member, and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Tillerson on Wednesday expressed condolences to the victims, noting that a Belgian citizen was killed in the attack.

“Once again, we've seen the evil face of terror in our own borders, but this is a face that knows no borders, and certainly Belgium, Europe and other countries have to deal with this evil that confronts us from time to time,” he said.

