President Donald Trump has suspended the US green card lottery scheme in light of a mass shooting at Brown University that resulted in the deaths of two individuals.
The shooter, identified as Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente, gained entry into the US via the diversity lottery program (DV1) in 2017 and had since acquired a green card.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the suspension as a preventative measure to protect Americans from further violence linked to the program.
Authorities believe that Neves Valente was also responsible for the death of Nuno Loureiro, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earlier in the week.
The diversity visa program permits up to 50,000 visas annually through a random selection from countries with lower rates of immigration to the US.
Noem highlighted past incidents that fueled calls to end the lottery, noting a similar attack led by an individual who also entered the US through this program in 2017.
Recent developments unfolded rapidly after Neves Valente was discovered dead, suspected of having taken his own life following a multi-state manhunt.
Brown University President Christina Paxson noted that Valente was not currently affiliated with the university but had been a student there years prior. The attacks have raised critical questions about the effectiveness and safety of the green card lottery system amidst increasing gun violence in the country.
