Trump Freezes Diversity Visa Lottery After Brown University Shooting Suspect Linked to Program
Trump suspends the U.S. green card lottery after revelations that the Brown University shooter and MIT professor’s killer entered America through the program. Homeland Security says the decision takes effect immediately.
President Donald Trump has ordered an immediate suspension of the U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery program, following revelations that the suspect in the deadly mass shooting at Brown University and the subsequent murder of an MIT professor entered the country through the initiative.
The decision, announced late Thursday by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, comes just hours after authorities confirmed the death of the suspect, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national who had obtained lawful permanent residency via the lottery in 2017.
"The Brown University shooter... entered the United States through the diversity lottery immigrant visa program (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card," Noem stated. "This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country." The Diversity Visa program, often called the green card lottery, allocates up to 50,000 visas annually to applicants from countries with low immigration rates to the U.S.
Critics, including Trump during his first term, have long argued it prioritizes randomness over merit or security vetting. The suspension is expected to face legal challenges, as the program is enshrined in law.
For Israelis, the lottery has been a key pathway to U.S. permanent residency, with hundreds participating annually despite rigorous post-win security checks.
The move affects thousands of applicants worldwide, including 153 Israelis who won in the most recent lottery, according to State Department data. It remains unclear whether ongoing applications or pending processes will be halted retroactively.