Brown University Shooting: US Suspends Green Card Lottery Over Security Concerns

Brown University Shooting: US Suspends Green Card Lottery Over Security Concerns

The United States government has announced the suspension of the green card lottery programme, following revelations that the suspect behind the deadly Brown University shooting and the killing of an MIT professor entered the country through the scheme.

The decision was disclosed on Thursday by the administration of US President Donald Trump, after confirmation that the accused gunman migrated to the US under the Diversity Visa (DV1) Lottery Programme.

The suspect, Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national, allegedly opened fire at Brown University on Saturday, killing two students and injuring nine others. Authorities said he later shot and killed MIT professor Nuno Loureiro at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, two days after the campus attack.

US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Neves Valente entered the US in 2017 through the diversity lottery immigrant visa programme and was subsequently granted a green card.

“He entered the United States through the DV1 programme and was granted permanent residency. He should never have been allowed in our country,” Noem said in a social media post.

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She added that, at President Trump’s directive, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has been ordered to pause the DV1 programme to prevent further harm to Americans.

The green card lottery allows up to 55,000 immigrants annually from countries with low immigration rates to the US to obtain permanent residency.

Noem recalled that during Trump’s first term in 2017, the president sought to end the programme after a deadly New York City truck attack carried out by an ISIS-linked terrorist who also entered the country under the DV1 scheme.

At a press briefing, US Attorney Leah Foley revealed that Neves Valente studied at Brown University on an F1 student visa between 2000 and 2021 before later securing legal permanent resident status. She also disclosed that he attended the same academic programme in Portugal as the MIT professor he later killed.

Authorities said there was no immediate indication of motive for the shootings, which shocked elite academic institutions across New England.

Following a days-long manhunt, Neves Valente was found dead at a storage facility in New Hampshire, alongside two firearms. Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez confirmed the suspect died by suicide and is believed to have acted alone.

The victims at Brown University were identified as Ella Cook, vice president of the university’s Republican Party association, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, a student from Uzbekistan who aspired to become a neurosurgeon.

Brown University President Christina Paxson said six of the injured victims remain hospitalised in stable condition, while three have been discharged.

Investigators said progress in the case came after analysing financial records and surveillance footage, noting that the suspect attempted to evade detection by switching licence plates and using an untraceable phone.

The shootings have renewed criticism of campus security, with Brown University facing scrutiny after it emerged that its 1,200 security cameras were not integrated with police surveillance systems. President Trump has also criticised the institution’s security arrangements.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, the US has recorded over 300 mass shootings this year, defined as incidents in which four or more people are shot, as debates over gun control laws remain politically stalled.

“Nothing can fully bring closure to the lives shattered by this violence,” Paxson said. “But our community can now begin the process of healing and recovery.”

Brown University Shooting: US Suspends Green Card Lottery Over Security Concerns