Captured Alleged Top ISIS Sniper Came to U.S. Via 'Diversity Visa Lottery'

According to Breitbart News, Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Kazakhstan, has been charged with aiding ISIS.

Asainov, an alleged top ISIS sniper and firearms instructor, was accepted into the U.S. in 1999 via the "Diversity Visa Lottery" program. 

Even more, he was allowed to become a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006.

Breitbart reports, 

A man charged with joining the Islamic State (ISIS) as a sniper and firearms instructor originally came to the United States through the 'Diversity Visa Lottery,' a program responsible for bringing more than half a million randomly chosen foreign nationals to the country in a single decade.

Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, 42-years-old, was charged last week in a Brooklyn, New York, federal court for aiding ISIS in 2013 when he allegedly traveled to Turkey and Syria to fight for the terrorist group.

...

Requirements for foreign nationals to win the visa lottery are low, with the foreign national only needing a high school degree and two years of work experience. Despite the weak prerequisites needed to obtain the visa, foreign nationals can later obtain green cards to permanently stay in the U.S. and after living in the country for five years can become American citizens and begin bringing their extended relatives to the country, a system known as 'chain migration.'

The report was confirmed by the Justice Department in a press release over the weekend, indicating that a criminal complaint had been filed in federal court against Asainov for "providing and attempting to provide material support, including training, services and personnel, to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization." 

"Asainov was detained overseas by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and recently transferred into FBI custody," reads the press release. "As alleged in the complaint and other court filings, the defendant resided in Brooklyn, New York. In December 2013, the defendant traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, which is a common transit point to obtain entry into Syria. He subsequently entered Syria, joined ISIS, and became a sniper for the terrorist organization. Over time, the defendant rose through the ranks to become an ISIS 'emir' in charge of training other ISIS members in the use of weapons. He also attempted to recruit another individual to travel from the United States to Syria to fight for ISIS."

This isn’t the first time the Diversity Visa Lottery program was exploited by terrorists. Flashback to the terror attack on Halloween 2017 in New York City where Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov allegedly murdered eight Americans and injured many others after plowing into a crowd of pedestrians and bicyclists. He came into the U.S. through the lottery program in 2010. 

Or when Sudan-born Mubarak Ahmed Hamed who also “won” his way into the U.S. via the program was convicted and removed after it was discovered he had provided $1 million in monetary support to terrorists abroad, reported The Washington Examiner.

The program has been under heavy criticism by President Trump who seeks to get rid of the program altogether. 

For more on the case, check out the NBC News report below.