In a decisive and long-overdue move, President Donald Trump has ordered the immediate suspension of the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, commonly known as the “Green Card Lottery,” after it was revealed the man accused of the Brown University and MIT shootings entered the United States through this very program.
The suspect, 48-year-old Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente, is believed to have killed two Brown University students and an MIT professor before taking his own life at the end of a multi-day manhunt.
Valente legally entered the United States under the Diversity Visa program in 2017 and was granted permanent residency.
Trump officials confirmed that Valente first entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2000 and later adjusted to residency through the diversity lottery.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the suspension on Thursday:
The Brown University shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente entered the United States through the diversity lottery immigrant visa program (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card. This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country.
In 2017, President Trump fought to end this program, following the devastating NYC truck ramming by an ISIS terrorist, who entered under the DV1 program, and murdered eight people.
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.