Washington- The United States has suspended its Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) lottery program following a deadly shooting at Brown University, with authorities linking the suspect’s immigration status to the scheme.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said late Thursday that President Donald Trump ordered an immediate pause of the DV1 program, citing national security concerns. The program offers permanent residency visas to applicants from countries with historically low immigration rates to the United States.
“At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program,” Noem said in a statement.
According to Noem, the suspected shooter entered the United States in 2017 using a diversity visa and later obtained a green card under the same program. The suspect was identified as a 48-year-old Portuguese national and a former Brown University student.
Last week’s shooting at Brown University left two people dead and nine others injured. Authorities later found the suspect dead from self-inflicted wounds at a storage facility in New Hampshire. Investigators are also examining his alleged involvement in the killing of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro, who was shot dead in Boston earlier this week.
The US Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts said investigations into the attacks are ongoing.
The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, established by the US Congress, grants more than 50,000 immigrant visas annually through a lottery system. The US State Department says the program is designed to diversify immigration by allowing applicants from underrepresented countries.
The decision to suspend the program is expected to face legal challenges, as immigration advocates argue that the lottery has played a long-standing role in promoting diversity within US immigration policy.
