Senate Democrats last week moved to block debate on a bill that
would do away with arguably one of the least rational components
of the entire U.S. immigration system: the "green-card lottery."
The bill proposes replacing the current diversity-happy, luck-
of-the-draw program with one that would give preference in
awarding visas to foreign-born graduates of U.S. universities
who had earned advanced degrees in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics, or STEM. Senate opponents of the
proposal were following the Obama administration's lead. Days
earlier, the White House announced its dissatisfaction with the
bill, saying that it did not meet its long-term objectives for
comprehensive immigration reform. To be sure, the STEM Jobs Act
is not perfect. Still, it suggests a big step in the right
direction toward immigration reform. To understand why, we must
understand the program it would replace. The green-card lottery
— known more formally as the Diversity Visa program — was
implemented in 1986. Every year