Candidly, this feels like grooming.
I think they should be honest and say "It's OK to discriminate against people based on the circumstances of their birth but I make an exception for race because my society told me I must." It sounds kind of stupid, but it is stupid. That's the cost of honesty.
Whether or not other people/nations do something is not a good arbiter of morality. But that aside, most other countries didn't just impose a large-scale immigration ban like the US just did.
If you look at the entire world, the picture is different.
But your parents didn't petition the government to prevent kids from the neighbouring town from entering your town.
"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Sweden essentially still lets anybody in who has a job offer (https://www.migrationsverket.se/English/Private-individuals/...):
"to obtain a work permit you must
* have a valid passport
* have been offered terms of employment that are at least on par with those set by Swedish collective agreements or which are customary within the occupation or industry
* have been offered a salary that is at least on par with that set by Swedish collective agreements or which is customary within the occupation or industry
* you must be offered a position that will enable you to support yourself. In order to satisfy this support requirement, you need to work to an extent that will result in a salary of at least SEK 13,000 [around $1500USD] per month before taxes
* have an employer who intends to provide insurance covering health, life, employment and pension when you begin to work."
A very different time in every aspect of life.
All those who were alive then are now dead.
The US accepts a lot of immigrants due to hardship or persecution from around the world
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_net_migra...
It just decided to temporarily ban the vast majority of people from all countries other than the US from working in the US.
The door is open, but there’s a queue
During the last three years the US has admitted about as many refugees as Sweden, a country of 10 million people, did in 2015. It wasn't that much higher under earlier administrations. On a per capita basis[1] the US hosts about three times fewer than Russia, and 10 times fewer than comparably prosperous Western European countries like Switzerland or Germany.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_refugee_p...
So people from every country get a shot
With a system that performs in this manner, predict the behaviour you would expect if the number of issued green cards is less than 140k.
My error. That should not happen unless there are too few participants, you're right.
It's country-based discrimination, certainly, but the cause is just.