President Donald Trump has ordered the suspension of the United States green card lottery programme following a mass shooting at Brown University that claimed two lives and left nine others injured.
The decision comes amid heightened concerns about security risks associated with the Diversity Visa (DV1) programme.
Authorities identified the shooter as 48-year-old Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente, who entered the US through the lottery in 2017. Valente was found dead on Thursday in Salem, New Hampshire, in what police believe was a self-inflicted gunshot. He is also suspected of killing Portuguese-born Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro earlier this week.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that the lottery programme was paused on Trump’s instructions “to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous programme.” She recalled that Trump had previously attempted to end the scheme in 2017 following a truck-ramming attack in New York City that killed eight people, citing similar cases such as Uzbek national Sayfullo Saipov, who is serving multiple life sentences for that attack.
The DV1 programme annually grants up to 50,000 visas to applicants from countries with historically low immigration rates to the US. While designed to promote diversity, critics argue that it carries potential security risks, highlighted by rare but high-profile incidents like this one.
Valente’s attack began on 13 December at Brown University’s engineering building during final exams. The victims included 19-year-old Ella Cook of Alabama and 18-year-old Uzbek-American Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov. Nine other students were injured. Investigators linked Valente to the murder of MIT professor Loureiro at his Brookline, Massachusetts, home, approximately 50 miles from Providence. Both men had attended the same university in Portugal in the late 1990s.
A multi-state investigation revealed that Valente’s vehicle was spotted at both crime scenes. Police said that tips and CCTV footage led authorities to a car rental location, ultimately resulting in the discovery of Valente’s body, a satchel, and two firearms.
Brown University President Christina Paxson confirmed that Valente had no current affiliation with the school, noting that he had been enrolled for a PhD in physics from autumn 2000 to spring 2001.
The shootings have reignited debate over the green card lottery, with Trump and other critics citing the programme as a potential security vulnerability. The White House and Homeland Security officials argue that suspending the DV1 programme is necessary to prevent further incidents and to implement stricter screening measures.
Federal and state authorities are continuing their investigation into Valente’s movements and possible motives.
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