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editorial | green card lottery

Hope makes long lines

  November 17, 2011

For millions of would-be Americans worldwide, the greatest lottery on the planet isn’t Powerball or the Irish sweepstakes, but the US government’s Diversity Visa Program - in which 50,000 green cards are issued each year by the luck of the draw. For this “green card lottery,’’ as it is popularly known, as many as 15 million applicants register each year. Illegal immigrants are commonly rebuked for not “waiting in line’’ to enter legally. Most of the time, the green-card lottery is the only line.

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