(Jewish Voice News) President Trump has ordered an immediate suspension of the U.S. green card diversity lottery following revelations that the suspect linked to a shooting at Brown University — and the killing of an MIT nuclear scientist — was a foreign national who obtained permanent residency through the controversial program.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the move late Thursday in a post on X, saying the action was taken directly at the president’s instruction. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has been told to pause the Diversity Immigrant Visa program, commonly known as the DV or green card lottery.

Why did this Brown shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, kill Ella Cook, my College Republicans VP, Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, a freshman foreign student, and Nuno Loureiro, a MIT professor working on cutting edge nuclear tech? None of this makes sense. When will we get a motive? pic.twitter.com/TdwCRCIchR

— William Branson Donahue (@realwilldonahue) December 19, 2025

“At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately ordering USCIS to halt the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous policy,” Noem wrote.

According to Noem, the suspect — identified as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente — entered the United States through the diversity visa lottery in 2017 and was later granted a green card. “This heinous individual should never have been allowed into our country,” she said.

Noem also pointed to Trump’s earlier efforts to dismantle the program, noting that he pushed to end it during his first term after the deadly 2017 New York City truck attack, when an ISIS-inspired terrorist used a vehicle to mow down pedestrians, killing eight people. That attacker, she noted, also entered the U.S. through the diversity visa system.

Court records shed further light on Neves Valente’s background. A Portuguese national, he first arrived in the United States in 2000 on a student visa to attend Brown University. After leaving the school, his whereabouts became murky for years. Authorities say he resurfaced in the immigration system in 2017, when he was selected for the diversity visa and eventually secured permanent residency.

Neves Valente was found dead late Thursday inside a storage facility in New Hampshire, Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez confirmed during a press briefing. Officials have not disclosed the cause of death or whether foul play is suspected.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts later released a complaint affidavit on X outlining Neves Valente’s immigration history and formally identifying him as the suspect in the MIT shooting that left a nuclear scientist dead.

The diversity visa program awards up to 50,000 green cards each year through a random lottery, rather than through skills-based or merit-focused criteria. Critics argue that prioritizing chance over vetting and qualifications poses serious national security risks — concerns now reignited by the latest violence.

Authorities have yet to announce an official motive for either shooting, and it remains unclear whether the victims were specifically targeted. However, Israeli media outlets have raised the possibility that the attacks could be linked to a broader overseas plot, though U.S. officials have not confirmed any such connection.

For the Trump administration, the developments have renewed calls to overhaul — or permanently eliminate — the diversity lottery, framing it as a vulnerability in America’s immigration system that can no longer be ignored.