OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
9:32 AM – Friday, December 19, 2025
President Donald Trump has suspended the green card lottery program that allowed the suspected gunman in both the Brown University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology shootings to enter 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,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem stated in an X post on Thursday night.
Valente, a Portuguese immigrant, entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2000 and became a permanent resident in 2017, according to Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez. He took a physics class at Brown University from fall 2000 to spring 2001, then formally withdrew in July 2003 after a leave of absence, according to Brown University President Christina Hull Paxson.
Noem explained Trump’s decision.
“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,” she asserted on X.
“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,” she continued.
The DV1 program prioritizes migrants from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. for visas. After entering on a visa, immigrants can apply for a green card to ultimately become permanent residents. It was originally established by Congress via the Immigration Act of 1990, signed by President George H.W. Bush.
Trump pushed lawmakers to end the program during his first term after a 2017 truck attack in Manhattan was carried out by Sayfullo Saipov, an Uzbek national inspired by ISIS.
The suspension of the program will likely face legal challenges from immigration advocacy groups, some of which have already expressed concern.
“It’s unjust to block the legal immigration processes of tens of thousands of people who have absolutely nothing to do with this offense, except that they happened to have applied for the same type of visa,” World Relief President Myal Greene said in a statement.
In November, after an Afghan man was identified as the gunman who shot two National Guard members near the White House, killing one, the Trump administration introduced sweeping restrictions on immigration from Afghanistan and other “high-risk” countries.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
What do YOU think? Click here to jump to the comments!
Sponsored Content Below