President Donald Trump suspended the U.S. green card lottery program on Thursday (December 18), following the recent shootings at Brown University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the suspension on the social platform X, stating that the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV1) allowed the suspect, Claudio Neves Valente, to enter the United States.
Valente, a Portuguese national, initially came to the U.S. on a student visa in 2000 and later gained permanent residency through the DV1 program in 2017. He was identified as the gunman responsible for killing two students at Brown University and MIT physics professor Nuno Loureiro. Authorities found Valente dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a New Hampshire storage facility on Thursday (December 18), according to Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem emphasized the need to pause the DV1 program to prevent further harm, while Trump has long criticized the program. The lottery allocates up to 50,000 visas annually to individuals from countries with low immigration rates to the U.S.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston confirmed there is no ongoing threat to the public, and authorities believe Valente acted alone.
The suspension of the DV1 program is the latest in a series of immigration policy changes following violent incidents involving immigrants. In 2017, Trump sought to end the program after a terrorist attack in New York City, where the attacker had also entered the U.S. through the DV1 program.
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