US Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem ordered the suspension of the diversity visa lottery programme on Thursday. She said it was used by the suspect in a mass shooting at Brown University.
“The Brown University shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, entered the United States through the diversity lottery immigrant visa programme (DV1) in 2017. He was granted a green card,” Noem wrote on social media.
“At president Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to pause the DV1 programme. This pause ensures no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous programme,“ she said.
According to the Associated Press, the diversity visa programme makes up to 50,000 green cards available each year by lottery. These are given to people from countries that are underrepresented in the US. Many recipients are from Africa.
The lottery was created by Congress, and the move is almost certain to invite legal challenges, AP reported.
Officials said earlier that the suspect was dead as investigators said he also killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor two days after the rampage at Brown.
Officials said he was a PhD student in physics. He was familiar with the building where the shooting took place.
Providence police Chief Oscar Perez and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha spoke at a Thursday night press conference. They said that Valente took his own life. Investigators believe he acted alone.
The Author
Discover more from News Network Plus
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
