Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Thursday that she is pausing the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, citing its role in allowing the alleged Brown University shooter into the United States.
Noem said the move comes at the direction of President Donald Trump, who has long criticized the program. “This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” she wrote in a post on X.
The suspect, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a Portuguese national, entered the U.S. in 2017 through the DV1 lottery and was granted a green card.
Valente was accused in the mass shooting at Brown University and in the separate murder of an MIT professor. Officials said he was found dead Thursday from a self‑inflicted gunshot wound.
Noem linked the case to past attacks, recalling the 2017 New York City truck ramming by an ISIS terrorist who also entered under the DV1 program. “At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed,” she declared.
Brown University President Christina Paxson clarified Valente’s ties to the school. He enrolled as a graduate student in physics in 2000 but formally withdrew in 2003. “He was not a current student, was not an employee and did not receive a degree,” Paxson said.
Supporters of the pause hailed the move as decisive. “This program has proven dangerous. It’s about time someone shut it down,” one commentator said. Trump allies echoed the sentiment, pointing to his long‑standing calls to end the lottery.
Critics, however, accused Noem of exploiting tragedy. Immigration advocates argued that linking isolated crimes to the visa lottery unfairly punishes thousands of law‑abiding immigrants. “Ending the program stigmatizes diversity and legal pathways. This is scapegoating,” one advocate commented.
On social media, reactions were sharply divided. Hashtags like #EndDV1 and #RespectedAgain trended alongside #ImmigrantRights and #StopScapegoating, reflecting the polarized mood.
Brown students and faculty expressed grief over the shooting and frustration that Valente’s past affiliation was being politicized. “We lost friends. This isn’t about immigration policy, it’s about violence,” one student said.
Analysts noted that while the pause is symbolic, it could reignite broader debates on immigration reform heading into 2026.
