President Donald Trump has directed the suspension of the United States Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery, commonly known as the green card lottery, citing national security concerns.
The directive was announced on Friday by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a news briefing.
She noted that the programme had enabled the suspect involved in shootings at Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to enter the country.
The Diversity Visa Immigrant Programme allows up to 50,000 immigrants to obtain green cards annually through a lottery system.
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In 2025, nearly 20 million people applied, with more than 131,000 selected to proceed to the vetting process before gaining entry to the United States.
Trump, who has long expressed criticism of the programme, framed the suspension as a measure to prevent potential security risks.
Providence, Rhode Island Police Chief Oscar Perez confirmed that the university shooting suspect, Claudio Neves Valente, a Portuguese national, initially entered the US on a student visa in 2000 and later became a permanent resident in 2017. Valente was found dead on Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” Noem said on X, underscoring the administration’s position.
The announcement represents the latest instance in which a tragedy has been cited by the Trump administration to justify stricter immigration policies.
