The United States has announced the suspension of its Diversity Visa Program, commonly known as the green card lottery, following recent shootings at Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the decision comes after the suspect, Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente, used the program to enter the US, raising concerns about immigration screening procedures.
Valente, who arrived in the United States on a student visa in 2000 and later obtained a green card in 2017, died by suicide after carrying out attacks at Brown University and MIT, authorities confirmed.
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“No individual like this should have been allowed to enter the United States,” Noem stated, linking the lottery program to lapses that could endanger public safety, and emphasizing stricter controls going forward.
The Diversity Visa Program annually grants approximately 50,000 permanent residencies to applicants from countries with historically low US immigration rates, requiring extensive background checks and interviews before approval.
Critics argue that suspending the lottery could disproportionately affect law-abiding applicants, warning that the recent shooting may be used as a pretext for stricter immigration policies in the United States.