President Donald Trump has ordered the suspension of the Diversity Visa Program, better known as the Green Card Lottery. The move came late on December 18, 2025, just hours after details emerged about recent shootings at Brown University and involving an MIT professor.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the decision on social media. She said Trump directed the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the programme right away. Noem pointed to the suspect in the attacks, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national. Police say he entered the U.S. on a student visa years ago, then got permanent residency through the lottery in 2017.
The shootings happened earlier that week. At Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, two students died and others got hurt. Separately, an MIT professor was killed. Authorities found the suspect dead from a self-inflicted wound. The cases shocked campuses in the Northeast.
Trump has criticised the lottery for years. He calls it a random way to pick immigrants that skips skill or merit checks. During his first term, he tried to end it after a 2017 terror attack in New York by someone who came through the programme. Congress kept it going.
The Diversity Visa Program started in the 1990s. It sets aside up to 50,000 green cards each year for people from countries with low U.S. immigration rates. Many winners come from Africa or Eastern Europe. Applicants enter for free online. Winners still face background checks, interviews, and other steps before getting in.
For the current cycle, DV-2026, entries closed in November 2024. Results come out in May 2025. Nearly 20 million people applied last time, but only about 55,000 get picked initially, including family. The pause affects ongoing processing and future plans.
Immigration groups say the suspension could face court fights. The programme is written into law, so changing it fully might need Congress. For now, USCIS has stopped work on lottery cases.
This fits with Trump’s broader immigration steps since taking office again. He has pushed mass deportations and tighter rules on legal paths too. Earlier this month, restrictions hit some countries after another incident.
People hoping for the lottery now wait to see what happens next. Selected applicants might get delayed or blocked. The State Department handles most visas, but USCIS deals with adjustments inside the U.S.
News spread fast online and on TV. Some support the move for security reasons. Others say it punishes a whole programme over one case. Winners go through the same vetting as other immigrants.
The White House has not said how long the pause lasts. Noem tied it directly to the shootings. More details could come in the coming days.
Families abroad who entered watch closely. For many, the lottery is their only shot at a green card. Countries like Portugal rarely send many immigrants, so they qualify.
This suspension adds uncertainty to U.S. immigration. Debates over safety and fairness keep going. As courts or Congress weigh in, the programme’s future stays unclear.
