Trump halts green card lottery program nationwide.
President Donald Trump halted the U.S. diversity visa lottery on Thursday, effectively suspending the program that had allowed a suspect in the Brown University and MIT shootings to enter the country. The move followed the ongoing investigation.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that the change came at Trump’s direction and instructed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to temporarily cease program operations. The action temporarily halts new lottery selections.
The suspension impacts Claudio Neves Valente, a 48‑year‑old Portuguese national charged with killing two students, wounding nine others at Brown University, and the death of an MIT professor. Valente faces charges.
Neves Valente was found dead Thursday evening from a self‑inflicted gunshot wound, according to officials. Investigators trace his U.S. history to a student visa at Brown beginning in 2000 and a diversity immigrant visa granted in 2017, after which he became a lawful permanent resident.
The diversity visa lottery offers up to 50,000 green cards annually through a random draw. In 2025, about 20 million applicants entered the pool and 131,000 winners, including 38 Portuguese recipients, were selected. Trump has long opposed the program, and the change may prompt court challenges.