Trump Suspends Green Card Lottery After Brown, MIT Shootings

The Trump administration has ordered an immediate pause of the U.S. diversity visa lottery, commonly known as the green card lottery, after authorities linked the suspect in a pair of deadly campus shootings to the programme.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the suspension on Thursday, saying the suspect, Claudio Neves Valente, entered the United States through the diversity visa programme in 2017 and later obtained permanent residency.

Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national, is accused of opening fire at Brown University on December 13, killing two students and wounding nine others during an exam period. Authorities also say he killed a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology two days later. After a day-long manhunt, police said the suspect was found dead.

Noem said the pause was issued at President Donald Trump’s direction, describing the programme as a security risk and insisting the suspect “should never have been allowed” into the country.

The move is likely to intensify an already heated debate over legal immigration pathways, vetting standards, and executive authority over programmes established by Congress.

The diversity visa lottery allocates tens of thousands of immigrant visas each year to applicants from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. Eligibility generally requires at least a high school education or equivalent work experience, and winners must still pass a screening process that includes background checks and an interview.

Supporters argue the program broadens opportunity and strengthens U.S. diversity, while critics say it is vulnerable to abuse and should be replaced with more strictly merit-based routes.