Members of the Senate have indicated they are open to ending the visa lottery program that the Manhattan terrorist suspect used to enter the country, The Hill reported Wednesday.
Trump earlier Wednesday said he would begin "the process of terminating" the program that randomly gives green cards to 50,000 people from countries with low immigration rates.
But since the program was created by Congress as part of a 1990 immigration law, it can only be terminated by Congressional action.
The Hill noted Senators appear divided on how to end the program, but appear to be supportive of the overall idea.
"We ought to be more focused and more merit-oriented when it comes to our immigration program," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters Wednesday. "There's always going to have to be a combination of family based immigration, but we also ought to reward people who we want to see come to this country and help us grow our economy."
Cornyn backs Trump's idea of using merit-based immigration rather than a random lottery.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., agreed, saying, "count me in for wanting to eliminate the lottery system for merit-based immigration."
Graham warned the legislation would take time.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said his party would be open to joining the effort.
"Of course we would," Durbin said. "Let me just tell you something: that was part of the [comprehensive immigration] reform [bill]."
The 2013 bill Durbin referenced would have put an end to the program, but would have been too late to have kept out terror suspect Sayfullo Saipov, who immigrated from Uzbekistan in 2010 under the program.
The 2013 bill passed the Senate, but not the House.