In a significant shift to U.S. immigration policy, President Donald Trump has ordered an immediate suspension of the green card lottery program. This action comes directly in response to the discovery that the suspect in the recent Brown University and MIT shootings initially entered the United States through this very system.
Directive Follows Security Concerns
The directive was issued on Thursday, December 19, 2025. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the move publicly on the social media platform X. She stated she was acting at the specific direction of President Trump, ordering U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to pause the program.
Secretary Noem identified the suspect as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, who she said entered the country in 2017 via the Diversity Immigrant Visa program, commonly known as the green card lottery. He was subsequently granted lawful permanent residence. "This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country," Noem wrote in her post, echoing the administration's justification for the policy halt.
How the Diversity Visa Lottery Works
The now-paused program is a long-standing immigration pathway. It allocates up to 50,000 immigrant visas annually through a random lottery drawing. The program's goal is to diversify the immigrant population by selecting applicants from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States in recent years. Many beneficiaries come from African nations.
The process is highly competitive. For the 2025 lottery cycle, nearly 20 million people worldwide submitted applications. From that pool, roughly 131,000 individuals were selected for the chance to apply, a figure that includes the spouses and minor children of primary winners. Winning the lottery does not guarantee entry; selected applicants must still pass rigorous background checks, interviews, and medical examinations before being granted admission.
To illustrate the selectivity, data shows that Portuguese citizens, like the suspect, secured only 38 of the coveted slots in the recent lottery.
Implications and Immediate Impact
The suspension marks a dramatic policy intervention linking a specific criminal act to broader immigration rules. The administration's move effectively freezes a major legal immigration channel that has operated for decades. It immediately affects the tens of thousands of applicants currently in various stages of the process for the 2025 fiscal year and beyond.
This decision reignites the longstanding political debate in Washington over the merits of the diversity lottery. Proponents argue it is a fair and equitable system that has enriched American society, while critics have long contended it is vulnerable to abuse and does not prioritize skills or family ties. The connection to a violent crime suspect has now provided a concrete catalyst for its suspension.
The future of the program remains uncertain, pending further review or potential legislative action by Congress, which originally created the system.
