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Trump administration suspends diversity visa program
US President Donald Trump has temporarily halted the green card lottery system following a deadly shooting at Brown University last week. The suspect, identified as Claudio Neves Valente, entered the country in 2017 through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV1).
Suspect's background and crimes
Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national, was found dead on Thursday in Salem, New Hampshire, from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Authorities believe he killed two individuals: Brown University student Ella Cook, 19, and Uzbek-American freshman Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, during a shooting spree on December 13 at the university's engineering building. Nine others were injured in the attack.
Police also link Valente to the earlier killing of MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, 47, at his Brookline home on Monday. Both Valente and Loureiro attended the same university in Portugal during the late 1990s. Investigators connected the cases after identifying Valente's vehicle through CCTV footage near both crime scenes.
Investigation details
A six-day manhunt across multiple states led authorities to a storage facility where Valente was found with a satchel and two firearms. Evidence from a nearby car matched the Brown University shooting scene, according to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha. No motive has been disclosed for either attack.
Diversity visa program under scrutiny
The DV1 program, which grants up to 50,000 visas annually via a random lottery to applicants from countries with low US immigration rates, has faced criticism in the past. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the suspension, stating the move aims to "ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous programme."
"President Trump has previously fought to end this scheme," Noem wrote on social media.
Kristi Noem, Homeland Security Secretary
In 2017, Trump sought to terminate the program after Sayfullo Saipov, an Uzbekistan national who entered the US through DV1, killed eight people in a truck-ramming attack in New York City. Saipov, an Islamic State supporter, is currently serving multiple life sentences for the crime.
University response
Brown University President Christina Paxson confirmed Valente was enrolled at the institution from autumn 2000 to spring 2001, pursuing a PhD in physics. She noted he had "no current active affiliation" with the university at the time of the shooting.
