President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the suspension of the Green Card lottery programme after it was revealed that the Brown University shooter entered the U.S. through the programme.
The suspect, 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente, who is a Portuguese national, entered the United States through the scheme in 2017 and later obtained permanent resident status.
The shooter who killed two students and nine other people was found dead days later in New Hampshire in what authorities believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, following a multi-state manhunt.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said 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,”
Citing Mr Trump’s efforts to end the programme after the 2017 New York City truck-ramming attack carried out by an ISIS terrorist who entered the United States through the DV1 programme and killed eight people, Ms Noem said, “At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately instructing USCIS to pause the DV1 programme to ensure that no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous programme.”
According to the U.S. government, about 55,000 people enter the U.S. through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program each year.
After the shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C, in November, the U.S. announced it would review every Green Card holder from targeted countries for possible revocation of their status as lawful permanent residents in the United States.
