Trump signing | File photo
President Donald Trump has ordered the suspension of the United States green card lottery programme.
Kristi Noem, homeland security secretary, announced Trump’s directive during a news briefing on Friday.
Noem said the programme allowed the suspect in the Brown University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) shootings to enter the country.
The programme — also known as the Diversity Visa Immigrant Programme (DV1) — allows for up to 50,000 green cards annually to immigrants by lottery.
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Nearly 20 million people applied for the visa lottery in 2025, with more than 131,000 making the cut.
Successful applicants thereafter undergo vetting to enter the US.
Trump has repeatedly spoken of his disdain for the initiative.
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Oscar Perez, police chief in Providence, Rhode Island, said 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.
Perez said 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.
Noem’s announcement marks the latest instance of a tragedy being cited by Trump to advance his immigration policy goals.
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After an Afghan man was identified as the gunman in a fatal attack on National Guard members in November, the Trump administration imposed sweeping rules restricting immigration from Afghanistan and other countries.
Portuguese citizens won only 38 slots in the 2025 DV1 programme.
Lottery winners are often invited to apply for a green card, interviewed at consulates, and subjected to the same requirements and vetting as other green card applicants.
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