US suspends diversity visa lottery after Brown Uni shooting
· DWHomeland Security chief Kristi Noem said the Brown University suspected shooter came into the country using the now paused DV1 program. The program offers visas to appliants from little represented countries.
US homeland security chief Kristi Noem said late on Thursday that President Donald Trump ordered her to pause the diversity visa lottery which was used by the suspect at the Brown University shooting.
"At President Trump's direction, I am immediately directing USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program."
How is the visa suspension linked to the Brown University shooting?
The suspect, a 48-year-old Portuguese man who two decades earlier was a Brown University student, later obtained a green card under the same program.
"This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country," Noem said.
Last week, two people were killed and nine others were wounded in a mass shooting at Brown University.
Authorities on Thursday found the suspect dead of self-inflicted wounds at a storage facility in the state of New Hampshire and are investigating the case.
Investigators believe the man was also responsible for the killing of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro, who was fatally shot in Boston on Monday, US Attorney for Massachusetts Leah B. Foley said.
What is the diversity visa lottery?
- The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV Program) makes over 50,000 immigrant visas available annually, according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
- Eligible applicants must be "from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States," according to the State Department
- The diversity visa program was created by Congress
- The decision to halt the program is expected to be legally challenged
Edited by: Rana Taha