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8h ago

Trump Orders Immediate Pause of Diversity Visa Lottery After Brown, MIT Killings

The DHS directive faces likely court tests because the program was created by Congress and much of its processing runs through the State Department.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem testifies before the House Committee on Homeland Security in the Cannon House Office Building on December 11, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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A person jogs near the campus of Brown University on December 14, 2025.

Overview

  • Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X that, at President Trump's direction, she is instructing USCIS to halt the DV1 program with no specified end date.
  • Authorities say suspect Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, obtained permanent residency through the lottery in 2017; he was found dead in a New Hampshire storage unit after the Brown and MIT attacks.
  • The Diversity Immigrant Visa program allocates about 50,000–55,000 visas annually, and for the 2025 cycle nearly 20 million applied with more than 131,000 selected including spouses.
  • Legal experts note the lottery is statutory and largely administered by the State Department, raising questions about DHS authority to suspend it and pointing to expected court challenges.
  • Immigration attorneys warn that selected winners and ongoing cases could be left in limbo as agencies clarify whether the pause applies to current processing or only future lotteries.