President Donald Trump has suspended the US green card lottery scheme in the wake of a mass shooting at Brown University last week in which two people were killed. The suspect, a Portuguese man who was found dead on Thursday, entered the country through the diversity lottery immigrant visa programme (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she has paused the visa scheme under Trump’s direction to 'ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous programme.'
US officials believed the suspect, 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente, also killed Portuguese Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro earlier in the week.
The programme offers 50,000 visas annually through a random selection from entries submitted by countries with low immigration rates to the United States. Noem remarked on social media that Trump had previously fought to end the scheme after another attack in 2017, which resulted in fatalities.
Valente, who was linked to both shootings through vehicle evidence, was discovered dead with firearms, prompting law enforcement concerns about the safety of immigration policies.
Brown University President Christina Paxson confirmed that Valente had no current active affiliation with the university, although he was enrolled from 2000 to 2001 studying for a PhD in physics.
As officials continue to navigate the implications of these events, the concern for public safety intertwines with discussions regarding immigration policies.
