Trump administration pauses visa program after Brown U shooting suspect found dead

By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

The Trump administration paused the immigration lottery visa program that approved more than 129,000 immigrants to obtain visas in fiscal year 2026.

In a social media post late Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said President Donald Trump directed her to pause the diversity lottery immigrant visa program. She said the suspected gunman of the Brown University shooting entered the country through the lottery program.

Rhode Island officials said the suspected gunman of the Brown University shooting was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound 50 miles away in southern New Hampshire.

Noem and authorities identified the shooter as Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, a 48-year-old former Brown student and Portuguese national. Noem said the alleged shooter entered the visa lottery program in 2017 and obtained a green card.

“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” Noem wrote on social media.

Two students were killed and nine others were injured at Brown University on Saturday. Authorities also linked the alleged shooter to the killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor in his hometown.

The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program allots up to 55,000 immigrant visas to be available annually. Approved visas are picked from a random selection of individuals from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. No more than 7% of approved visas can come from any one country.

In 2025, approximately 131,060 applicants were selected under the diversity visa lottery, including spouses and children. For fiscal year 2026, the United States approved 129,516 prospective applicants, including spouses and children, to obtain immigrant visas in the country.

The U.S. approved lottery winners are selected out of more than 20 million applications for fiscal year 2026. Lottery winners go through an interview process before being selected for a green card. Not all approved lottery winners are selected to receive legal status.

Approved applicants for fiscal year 2026 will likely not be affected by the program’s pause. The lottery program was created by Congress.