U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the suspension of the diversity visa lottery program, commonly known as the green card lottery, following a deadly mass shooting at Brown University last week that left two people dead, U.S. officials confirmed.

The decision comes after authorities identified the suspected gunman as Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national who entered the United States in 2017 through the Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV1) program and later obtained permanent residency. Neves Valente was found dead on Thursday in a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, from what police believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the visa program was paused under Trump’s direct orders to allow for a comprehensive security review. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are taking immediate action to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program,” Noem said in a statement. She added that the Department of Homeland Security would reassess screening procedures and eligibility requirements before any decision is made on the program’s future.

U.S. officials also said investigators believe Neves Valente was responsible for the killing of Nuno Loureiro, a Portuguese professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earlier in the same week. Authorities are continuing to examine possible links between the two incidents, including motive and travel patterns.

The diversity visa lottery allocates up to 50,000 immigrant visas annually through a random selection process, targeting applicants from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. The program has long been criticized by Trump and other conservatives, who argue it poses national security risks due to what they describe as insufficient vetting.

In a social media post following the suspension, Noem recalled that Trump had previously sought to terminate the program during his first term, particularly after the 2017 truck-ramming attack in New York City that killed eight people. The perpetrator of that attack, Sayfullo Saipov, an Uzbek national and self-declared supporter of the Islamic State group, had also entered the U.S. through the DV1 program and is currently serving multiple life sentences.

The announcement came just hours after law enforcement officials confirmed the end of a six-day, multi-state manhunt for Neves Valente. Police said surveillance footage and public tips led investigators to a car rental facility, where the suspect’s name was discovered and matched to evidence recovered from the scene of the Brown University shooting.

When officers located Neves Valente’s body, they found a satchel and two firearms. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said ballistic and forensic evidence recovered from a nearby vehicle matched materials found at the Providence crime scene.

In updated remarks on Friday, federal officials said the FBI and DHS are jointly reviewing whether additional safeguards, including enhanced background checks and post-entry monitoring, could be implemented for immigration programs. Members of Congress from both parties have called for hearings on the future of the diversity visa system, signaling that the suspension could evolve into a broader legislative push.

As the investigation continues, the White House said the suspension will remain in effect indefinitely, pending the outcome of security assessments and recommendations from federal law enforcement and immigration agencies. (ILKHA)