U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has announced the immediate suspension of the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, also known as the green card lottery. The decision follows the identification of a university shooting suspect as a beneficiary of the program.

The announcement was made on Friday, December 19, 2025, during a press briefing at the Department of Homeland Security headquarters. Authorities confirmed that the suspect, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, was linked to recent deadly shootings at Brown University and MIT.

Secretary Noem said the suspect entered the United States through the Diversity Visa Lottery, which she described as a security risk. She added that President Trump had previously warned about the program and said the government is now taking action. She directed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to immediately pause all diversity visa processing.

Records show the suspect first entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2000 and later received a diversity visa in 2017, granting him permanent residency. The Diversity Visa Program, created in 1990, issues up to 50,000 visas each year to applicants from countries with low immigration rates to the U.S.

The suspension affects all diversity visa applications, including the DV-2025 cycle, which attracted nearly 20 million applicants worldwide. About 131,000 people were selected for further processing, including applicants from Uganda and Portugal.

The move has sparked debate, with legal experts saying only Congress can end the program. Immigrant rights groups have criticized the suspension, calling it unfair to thousands of applicants who have already passed security checks.

The Department of Homeland Security said the suspension will remain in place until a full review of security procedures is completed.