US suspends green card lottery scheme after Brown shooting

December 19, 2025

President Trump has suspended the U.S. diversity visa lottery program following a shooting at Brown University that left two students dead. The alleged perpetrator, a Portuguese national who obtained entry through this lottery system in 2017, was later discovered deceased from an apparent suicide in New Hampshire after a six-day search. Authorities believe the same individual also murdered an MIT professor days earlier, with both the suspect and victim having attended the same Portuguese university in the 1990s.

Who is affected

Ella Cook (19-year-old student killed at Brown University)
Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov (18-year-old student killed at Brown University)
Nine injured students at Brown University
Nuno F Gomes Loureiro (47-year-old MIT professor killed in Brookline)
Up to 50,000 annual applicants for diversity lottery visas
Claudio Neves Valente (48-year-old suspect, found dead)
Countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. whose citizens rely on the DV1 program

What action is being taken

The diversity lottery immigrant visa programme (DV1) has been suspended/paused
A multi-state manhunt was conducted (which concluded when the suspect was found dead)

Why it matters

This suspension affects a significant immigration pathway that provides 50,000 visas annually to individuals from underrepresented countries. The administration is using this tragedy to justify eliminating a program it previously attempted to end, framing it as a national security threat despite the program serving as one of the few legal immigration routes for certain populations. The decision sets precedent for suspending immigration programs based on isolated incidents involving program participants.

What's next

No explicit next steps stated in the article

Read full article from source: BBC