On May 24, 2006, for example, Schumer gave a floor speech in the Senate celebrating the diversity visa program:
This is an excellent program. Nobody has said it has done a bad job. It is small. There are only about 50,000 visas a year. It is really based on the idea of new seed ... So I plead with my colleagues, keep the diversity visa program ...
As I ride my bike around New York City on the weekends, I see what immigrants do for America. This program has dramatically helped. Neighborhoods such as Woodlawn and Greenpoint have been revitalized by new Irish and Polish immigrants. Neighborhoods such as East Flatbush and Harlem have been revitalized by West African immigrants. We don't have to stop this program.
Schumer ally Jeff Flake tweeted a defense of Schumer and his Diversity visa one day after a Muslim lottery winner aledgedly killed eight cyclists in New York.