WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump suspended the green card lottery program on Thursday that permitted the suspect in the Brown University and MIT shootings to enter the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem indicated in a post on X that, following Trump's direction, she is mandating a pause on the program through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” Noem stated regarding the suspect, Claudio Neves Valente, a Portuguese national.
Neves Valente, aged 48, is suspected of the shooting that resulted in two student deaths and nine injuries at Brown University, as well as the murder of an MIT professor. Authorities confirmed he was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Valente acquired legal permanent residence in 2017, stated Leah B. Foley, the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts.
The diversity visa program, aimed at diversifying immigration, provides up to 50,000 green cards through a lottery annually to individuals from underrepresented countries, primarily in Africa. This suspension is expected to trigger legal disputes as it was established by Congress.
In the most recent lottery, nearly 20 million people applied, with over 131,000 winners chosen when including spouses. However, only 38 Portuguese citizens secured slots.
While the program's winners must go through a rigorous vetting process to gain entry into the U.S., Trump's administration has consistently aimed to curtail such immigration avenues, often linking policy decisions to tragic incidents.
