On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced the suspension of the green card lottery program, a decision that comes in the wake of a devastating shooting incident involving suspected assailant Claudio Neves Valente, who has been linked to shootings at Brown University and MIT. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed on the social platform X that she was acting at Trump's direction to instruct the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the lottery program. "This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country," Noem stated, referring to the suspect.
Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national, is suspected of being involved in the tragic shootings at Brown University, which resulted in the deaths of two students and injuries to nine others, along with the murder of an MIT professor. Tragically, Neves Valente was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Thursday evening, according to official reports.
Neves Valente had initially arrived in the United States on a student visa in 2000, attending Brown University. According to an affidavit from a Providence police detective, he was granted a diversity immigrant visa in 2017, which subsequently led to his legal permanent residence status. However, there is a gap in his history between taking a leave of absence from Brown in 2001 and acquiring the visa in 2017, raising further questions about his immigration status during that period.
The diversity visa program, established by Congress, allocates up to 50,000 green cards annually through a lottery system aimed at individuals from countries underrepresented in the U.S., with many applicants hailing from Africa. In the 2025 visa lottery, nearly 20 million people applied, with over 131,000 selections made when accounting for spouses of winners. However, only 38 slots were awarded to Portuguese citizens.
Winners of the lottery are invited to apply for a green card, which requires them to undergo thorough vetting and interviews at U.S. consulates, adhering to the same requirements as all other green card applicants.
President Trump has consistently opposed the diversity visa lottery program, viewing it as a vulnerability in the immigration system. Noem’s recent announcement reflects a broader strategy of leveraging tragic events to push forth immigration policy changes. Following a November incident where an Afghan national was identified as the shooter in a deadly attack on National Guard members, Trump's administration implemented stringent immigration restrictions against individuals from Afghanistan and other countries.
Throughout his presidency, Trump has pursued aggressive policies aimed at mass deportation and restricting legal immigration pathways. His opposition to established legal frameworks, such as the diversity visa lottery and the constitutional right to citizenship for individuals born on U.S. soil, has not wavered. Recently, the Supreme Court agreed to hear his challenge regarding birthright citizenship, further indicating his administration's ongoing battle against perceived immigration threats.