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President Donald Trump has ordered the suspension of the U.S. green card lottery program following a deadly shooting at Brown University and the killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Thursday that she directed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the diversity visa lottery at Trump’s instruction. She linked the decision directly to the suspect in the attacks, who entered the United States through the program.
“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” Noem said in a statement posted on X.
U.S. authorities identified the suspect as Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national. Officials say he killed two students at Brown University, wounded nine others, and later killed an MIT professor.
Valente was found dead on Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to law enforcement.
Police in Providence, Rhode Island, said Claudio Neves Valente first entered the United States on a student visa in 2000.
He later obtained legal permanent resident status in 2017 through the diversity visa lottery, according to U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah B. Foley.
The green card lottery, formally known as the diversity visa program, offers up to 50,000 immigrant visas each year to applicants from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
Many recipients come from African countries, though the program includes applicants from other regions as well.
Nearly 20 million people applied for the 2025 lottery and more than 131,000 individuals were selected when spouses were included. Portuguese citizens received only 38 slots that year.
However, winners do not receive automatic entry. They must apply for a green card, attend interviews at U.S. consulates, and pass the same security and eligibility checks required of other permanent residency applicants.
Congress created the diversity visa program, which means the suspension is likely to face legal challenges.
While the administration ordered U.S. immigration authorities to halt the program, it has not announced how long the pause will remain in effect.
Donald Trump has opposed the green card lottery for years and has argued that it weakens U.S. immigration controls. The latest move follows a broader push by his administration to restrict both legal and illegal immigration.
After a separate attack in November in which an Afghan man killed members of the National Guard, the administration imposed sweeping new rules targeting immigration from Afghanistan and other countries.
Trump has also pursued mass deportations and sought to limit long-standing legal immigration pathways. These efforts include challenges to policies established by law, such as the diversity visa lottery, and constitutional protections like birthright citizenship.
The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear his challenge to birthright citizenship.
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