Trump pauses diversity visa lottery and broadens 2025 crackdown on legal immigration programs
President Trump directed DHS to immediately pause the Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV1) lottery after officials said the suspected Brown University and MIT shooter entered the U.S. through that program, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordering USCIS to suspend DV1. The move is being folded into a broader 2025 campaign to scale back legal immigration — from halting asylum decisions and pausing immigration actions for nationals of many countries under the travel‑ban list to rescinding protections such as TPS — steps that critics say amount to sweeping limits on lawful pathways and are likely to face legal challenges.
📌 Key Facts
- On Dec. 13 a masked gunman opened fire during a Principles of Economics review session in the first‑floor auditorium of Brown University’s Barus & Holley engineering building; two Brown students were killed and nine others were wounded (many reported in critical but stable condition), shelter‑in‑place orders were issued and the university canceled remaining semester exams and events.
- Investigators identified the shooter as Claudio Manuel Neves‑Valente, 48, a Portuguese national and former Brown graduate student; authorities say he also fatally shot MIT physics professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro two days later, was tracked through hotel, rental‑car and surveillance records, and was found dead of an apparent self‑inflicted gunshot in a Salem, New Hampshire storage unit.
- A key investigative breakthrough came from public tips — including a Reddit tip that pointed police to a gray Nissan Sentra rental with Florida plates — and extensive canvassing for private surveillance video; an early person detained at a Coventry hotel was later released when evidence pointed elsewhere.
- Law‑enforcement releases and forensic accounts say the shooter fired more than 40 rounds from a 9mm handgun (44 shell casings recovered from the auditorium) and investigators recovered firearms and related evidence linked to the suspect during the probe.
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, acting at President Trump’s direction, ordered U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV1) lottery program after officials said Neves‑Valente obtained a green card through the 2017 diversity visa lottery; Noem framed the pause as an immediate security measure.
- The administration’s pause targets a congressionally created program that awards roughly 50,000 diversity visas a year; reporting notes the 2025 cycle drew nearly 20 million entrants (about 131,000 selected including spouses) and that the suspension is likely to prompt legal challenges and political debate.
- News outlets place the DV1 suspension in a broader 2025 pattern of the administration scaling back legal immigration pathways — examples include pauses or suspensions of asylum and immigration processing for nationals of certain countries, travel‑ban expansions and other policy moves that advocacy groups and analysts say have effectively halted parts of the legal immigration system.
- The shootings and investigative gaps exposed community anger and calls for better campus and city surveillance and security (Brown and Providence officials acknowledged limited camera coverage in the older part of Barus & Holley), the FBI offered a $50,000 reward for information, and two victims have been publicly identified as Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov.
📊 Relevant Data
The Diversity Immigrant Visa program, paused after the Brown-MIT shooting, primarily benefits applicants from countries with low historical immigration to the US, with over 50% of visas in recent years going to African nations; for DV-2024, top countries included Nepal (5,532 visas), Cameroon (4,210), Iran (3,998), and Algeria (3,528).
Diversity Visa Program Statistics — U.S. Department of State
In Minnesota, federal investigations into the Feeding Our Future program revealed over $250 million in fraudulent claims, with prosecutors stating that most of the $300 million in program spending was fraudulent, involving multiple individuals from the Somali community.
Fraud in Minnesota: Detailing the nearly $1 billion in schemes — FOX 9
Minnesota's Somali population is approximately 86,000 as of 2023, making up about 1.5% of the state's total population, with high poverty rates where one in eight children in poverty lives in a Somali immigrant household.
Somali Immigrants in Minnesota — Center for Immigration Studies
Per capita incarceration rates for illegal immigrants in the US were lower than for US citizens between 2010 and 2023, with rates of about 0.5 per 100 for illegal immigrants compared to 1.2 per 100 for citizens in 2023.
Illegal Immigrant Incarceration Rates, 2010–2023 — Cato Institute
The Temporary Protected Status for Somalis, terminated in 2025, was initially granted in 1991 due to civil war and has been extended multiple times; its termination affects fewer than 1,000 individuals but has led to increased immigration enforcement in Minnesota's Somali communities.
What to Know About Trump's Targeting of Somalis in Minnesota — TIME
📊 Analysis & Commentary (5)
Which Types of Mass Shooting Were Bondi Beach and Brown U.?
"An opinion piece arguing that Bondi Beach and the Brown University attacks represent different types of mass shootings and that recognizing those differences — rather than lumping all incidents together — yields clearer analyses and more effective, targeted prevention and policy responses."
Brown University shooter still at large
"A Playbook commentary on the Brown University shooting stresses alarm over the still‑unapprehended shooter, critiques preparedness and interagency response, and urges urgent but measured action to protect students and restore campus normalcy."
Romantic Rejection Is the Least of Your Problems
"The piece critiques the instinct to explain mass violence as driven by 'romantic rejection,' arguing that such a trope distracts from structural causes — gun access, social isolation, online radicalization and institutional failures — and urges attention to policy and cultural fixes in the wake of the Brown University shooting."
Armed Portuguese National, Age 48, Found Dead by Suicide
"A commentary on the Brown/MIT shooting reporting that the suspected 48‑year‑old Portuguese gunman was found dead by suicide, questioning the lost investigative opportunities, the shaping of media narratives around the suspect’s background, and institutional/campus‑security failures."
Tips and the F.B.I.
"The piece argues that public tips (including crowd-sourced leads) — not failures of immigration vetting — were central to solving the Brown/MIT shootings, and it criticizes the administration’s use of the attacks to justify sweeping rollbacks of legal-immigration programs."
📰 Sources (71)
Trump's new crackdown: Collective punishment for legal immigrants
New information:
- Axios frames the diversity visa pause as part of a broader 2025 Trump strategy to "scale down legal immigration" by halting or trying to dismantle whole legal immigration programs after high‑profile incidents.
- Cato Institute analysis cited by Axios estimates that, via the travel ban, the administration has effectively halted the legal immigration process for roughly 20% of people in the system.
- Axios reports that in November DHS paused all asylum decisions nationwide after an Afghan national with asylum allegedly attacked National Guard members in Washington, D.C.
- The article specifies that DHS also suspended all immigration decisions for Afghan passport holders and nationals on the travel‑ban list, now totaling 39 countries, which has stopped citizenship ceremonies, green‑card interviews and renewals of work and student visas for those nationals.
- Axios notes that Trump ordered termination of Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in November over alleged fraud in Minnesota, affecting fewer than 1,000 people but used as justification to surge immigration enforcement in Minnesota, especially Minneapolis.
- DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin is quoted blaming President Biden for having restarted the diversity visa lottery after Trump’s first term, but DHS otherwise declined to answer Axios’ questions about the broader crackdown.
Timeline of gunman in Brown University and MIT professor shootings
New information:
- Provides a detailed day-by-day and hour-by-hour timeline of Claudio Manuel Neves Valente’s movements before, during and after the Dec. 13 Brown University shooting, based on a Providence Police affidavit, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley and surveillance footage.
- Reveals that Valente first entered the U.S. on a student visa around fall 2000 to attend Brown, took a leave in April 2001 and formally withdrew in July 2003, and later returned in 2017 with a green card obtained through the diversity visa lottery.
- Documents specific pre-attack surveillance of Brown’s Barus & Holley building on Nov. 28 and Dec. 1 by a custodian who saw a masked man with a limp near the eventual shooting auditorium (room 166).
- Details Valente’s rental history: a Nov. 17 rental at Alamo on Atlantic Avenue in Boston; a Nov. 26–30 Boston hotel stay; and a Dec. 1 rental of a gray Nissan Sentra with Florida plates, with that car seen intermittently near Brown between Dec. 1 and Dec. 12.
- Provides a precise sequence of surveillance sightings on Dec. 13, including multiple passes near campus streets between 10:35 a.m. and 3:15 p.m., an encounter with a person referred to as “John” at 2:16 p.m., entry into Barus & Holley around 4 p.m., and his subsequent flight route through campus streets between 4:03 p.m. and 4:11 p.m.
- Confirms that 44 spent 9mm shell casings were recovered from the Brown auditorium where two students were killed and nine others wounded.
- Notes that a different person of interest was detained at a Coventry, Rhode Island hotel on Dec. 14 and later released after evidence “pointed in a different direction,” per Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha.
‘We got ‘em.’ The major break in the Brown University shooting that led police to the suspect
New information:
- Confirms that Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, a former Brown graduate student and Portuguese national with a last known address in Miami, is believed responsible for both the Dec. 13 Brown University shooting (two students killed, nine wounded) and the killing of MIT physics professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro near Boston.
- Details that the major break in the case came on Dec. 16 via an anonymous tip about a Reddit post urging police to look at a gray Nissan with Florida plates seen around Brown’s campus; this information is quoted in and relied upon in a Providence Police Department affidavit.
- Explains that investigators tied the gray Nissan — a rental from a Boston‑based Alamo location — to Valente through rental car and hotel records, which placed him near both the Brown campus and Loureiro’s home.
- Reports that Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez said Valente acted alone 'as far as we know' and died of a self‑inflicted gunshot wound in a Salem, New Hampshire storage unit.
- Quotes FBI Boston SAC Ted Docks saying 'We got ’em' while emphasizing that the investigation continues and there are 'many questions that need to be answered.'
- Notes investigators’ belief that Valente and Loureiro attended the same Portuguese university between 1995 and 2000, providing a possible personal link between suspect and MIT victim.
A Reddit post helped find MIT and Brown shooting suspect. Here's what we know
New information:
- Providence Police Department affidavit identifies the suspect as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48‑year‑old born in Torres Novas, Santarém, Portugal, and a U.S. legal permanent resident.
- Valente first came to the U.S. in August 2000 on an F‑1 student visa to enroll in Brown’s PhD physics program, where he studied from fall 2000 through spring 2001, took a leave of absence, and formally withdrew in fall 2003.
- U.S. Attorney Leah Foley stated that Valente and slain MIT physics professor Nuno F. G. Loureiro attended the same academic program in Portugal between 1995 and 2000, indicating a prior connection.
- The affidavit confirms Valente received a Diversity Immigrant Visa in May 2017 and was admitted as a lawful permanent resident at JFK Airport in September 2017, with his last known U.S. address in Miami.
- Investigators say a key breakthrough came from an anonymous tip pointing them to a Providence subreddit post by a witness who described seeing the suspect and specified that police should look for a gray Nissan with Florida plates, likely a rental, which he was driving near Brown before the shooting.
Trump suspends green card lottery program that let Brown University, MIT shootings suspect into U.S.
New information:
- PBS/AP confirm that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, acting on Trump’s direction, is ordering USCIS to pause the entire diversity immigrant visa (green card lottery) program.
- The article specifies that Claudio Neves Valente first came to the U.S. on a Brown University student visa in 2000, took a leave of absence in 2001, and later received a diversity immigrant visa in 2017, after which he obtained lawful permanent residency.
- The report provides current scale data on the program: nearly 20 million people applied for the 2025 lottery, more than 131,000 were selected when including spouses, and Portuguese citizens received only 38 winning slots.
- It reiterates that diversity visa winners undergo consular interviews and standard green card vetting, emphasizing that Trump’s suspension targets a congressionally created pathway and is expected to draw legal challenges.
- The piece situates this action in a pattern of Trump using violent incidents to justify restrictions on both legal and illegal immigration, noting his past post‑attack moves against Afghan immigration and his broader efforts to limit even constitutionally rooted birthright citizenship.
Brown University shooting suspect found dead. And Epstein files release deadline looms
New information:
- Authorities identify the suspect as 48‑year‑old Claudio Manuel Neves Valente and say he was found dead in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire.
- Police believe Valente also fatally shot MIT physics professor Nuno F. G. Loureiro at his home on Monday, linking the campus shooting and the professor’s killing.
- Valente attended Brown University as a graduate physics student in 2000, dropped out after a year, and later re‑entered the U.S. in 2017 via the diversity‑visa lottery.
- A witness encountered Valente in a Brown bathroom, followed him to his car, and later posted about the vehicle on Reddit, which helped police connect the suspect to the shooting.
- Authorities say they do not yet have a motive for either the Brown or MIT shootings.
Noem announces pause on immigrant visa lottery that allowed alleged Brown shooter to enter US
New information:
- Fox article confirms DHS Secretary Kristi Noem publicly stated on X that Claudio Manuel Neves Valente entered the U.S. via the Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV1) program in 2017 and was granted a green card.
- Noem says she is 'immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program' following President Trump’s direction, reiterating the mechanism of the pause as an instruction to USCIS.
- The piece reiterates Brown University’s clarification that Neves Valente attended as a graduate student from fall 2000 to spring 2001, took leave in 2001 and formally withdrew effective July 31, 2003, with no degree and no current affiliation.
- The article explicitly links Trump’s prior 2017 effort to end the program after the NYC ISIS truck attack to the current pause, framing it as continuity of that earlier policy effort.
Tipster using Reddit was key in cracking Brown University shooting case, police say
New information:
- Identifies the key Reddit tipster, referred to as 'John' in a Providence police affidavit, as central to cracking the Brown University shooting case and linking it to the killing of MIT professor Claudio Neves Valente.
- Details John's multiple encounters with Neves Valente before the attack, including a bathroom interaction in the Brown engineering building where the suspect’s clothing was 'inappropriate and inadequate for the weather.'
- Reports that John publicly posted on Reddit recognizing the suspect from police images and suggested investigators look for a gray Nissan rental, then contacted the FBI after other users urged him.
- States that Providence police learned of the tip on Dec. 16, three days after the shooting and a day after setting up the tip line, and that prior to this they had not connected any vehicle to the shooter.
- Describes how the tip led police to focus on a gray Nissan Sentra with Florida plates, obtain more video, and leverage a network of more than 70 Flock Safety street cameras to track the vehicle.
- Provides narrative from the affidavit about a 'cat and mouse' sequence on the street, including John confronting the suspect with 'Your car is back there, why are you circling the block?' and the suspect’s response, 'I don't know you from nobody... Why are you harassing me?'
- Notes that FBI Special Agent in Charge Ted Docks said it would be 'logical' to think the tipster would be entitled to the FBI’s $50,000 reward for information about the Brown shooting, though no award decision has been made.
Trump suspends U.S. green card lottery after Brown University and MIT shootings
New information:
- Confirms Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem publicly announced on X that, at Trump's direction, she ordered USCIS to pause the diversity green card lottery program.
- Clarifies that the suspect, named as Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente, entered the U.S. via a diversity immigrant visa in 2017 and then obtained lawful permanent residence, after first coming on a Brown student visa in 2000.
- Provides scale metrics for the 2025 diversity visa lottery: nearly 20 million applicants, more than 131,000 selected with spouses, and only 38 slots awarded to Portuguese citizens.
- Explicitly notes the diversity lottery is a congressionally created program and that Trump's move is 'almost certain' to face legal challenges.
- Places the lottery suspension within a broader pattern: after a separate Afghan National Guard shooting, the administration imposed sweeping immigration rules on Afghanistan and other countries and is simultaneously challenging birthright citizenship at the Supreme Court.
Trump pauses green card lottery program after Brown University, MIT shootings
New information:
- Axios explicitly frames the action as Trump ordering suspension of 'a green card lottery program' that enabled the suspect to live in the U.S., highlighting the DV1 green card pathway.
- Confirms that at the Thursday night briefing officials stated the suspect studied at Brown in the 2000s and gained a green card via the diversity visa lottery (DV1) in 2017.
- Quotes Kristi Noem saying Trump directed her to 'immediately' have USCIS pause the 'disastrous' program 'to ensure no more Americans are harmed' by it.
- Restates the suspect’s full name, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, and identifies him as a Portuguese national who became a U.S. permanent resident via DV1.
Noem says Brown suspect got U.S. visa through diversity lottery, pauses program
New information:
- DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced the Trump administration will pause the diversity visa lottery (DV1) program at President Trump’s direction.
- Noem said the alleged Brown and MIT shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, entered the U.S. via the diversity visa program in 2017 and was issued a green card.
- The pause is framed as an immediate security measure 'to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program,' per Noem’s post on X.
- The article reiterates core features of the program (50,000 visas per year for under‑represented countries, education/work requirements, vetting and interviews) in the context of the pause.
- It notes Trump’s longstanding opposition to the diversity lottery, referencing his earlier effort to end it after the 2017 NYC truck‑ramming attack by a diversity‑visa recipient.
What we know about the suspect in the Brown and MIT professor shootings
New information:
- Officials explicitly confirmed that the same gunman who opened fire at Brown University also shot and killed MIT professor Nuno Loureiro two days later.
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, is a Portuguese national who studied at Brown in 2000–2001 and immigrated in 2017 after receiving a green card through the visa lottery program.
- Authorities detailed that Neves Valente stayed at a Boston hotel in late November and rented a gray Nissan Sentra with Florida plates on Dec. 1, which was intermittently observed near Brown University between Dec. 1 and Dec. 12.
- U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said CCTV and financial records tied Neves Valente to the rental car, Boston hotel, and a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, and that he was captured on video within a half‑mile of Loureiro’s apartment and entering the building around the time of the killing.
- Investigators located Neves Valente dead by suicide in his Salem storage unit, with a satchel and two firearms, and he was wearing the same clothes seen on video shortly after Loureiro’s murder.
- Rhode Island AG Peter Neronha stated investigators believe Neves Valente acted alone and said they are '100% confident' he was the shooter, though the motive remains unknown.
Suspect in Brown University shooting found dead in New Hampshire
New information:
- Confirms police identified the suspect as Claudio Neves Valente, 48, a Brown student and Portuguese national last known to live in Miami.
- Details how investigators used video surveillance that led them to a car rental agency in Massachusetts, helping track the suspect.
- Reports that Brown’s campus and parts of the surrounding Providence neighborhood were placed under a shelter‑in‑place order during the incident.
- Adds on‑the‑ground student accounts, including a detailed firsthand description from physics graduate student Ref Bari about fleeing the building and sheltering in a bathroom for hours amid fears of multiple shooters.
- Provides biographical and memorial detail about victim Ella Cook — her role as Brown College Republicans vice president, academic majors, church remembrance, and tributes from Alabama officials.
- Clarifies that Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez publicly described the attack as 'definitely targeted' while not elaborating on the motive.
Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente identified as Brown University shooting suspect, found dead
New information:
- FBI identified the Brown University mass-shooting suspect as Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente.
- Authorities announced Neves-Valente was found dead Thursday evening at or linked to a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire.
- Officials described prior investigative steps, including questioning and clearing an earlier person of interest at a hotel outside Providence.
- Police detail surveillance-based description of the masked suspect (about 5'8", stocky, distinctive inward bow of right leg and outward-pointing toe).
- Update on victims: six of the nine surviving victims remained hospitalized in stable condition as of Thursday afternoon.
News Wrap: NASCAR’s Greg Biffle and family among 7 killed in North Carolina plane crash
New information:
- Authorities are now explicitly investigating a possible connection between the Brown University shooting and the killing of an MIT professor, as noted in the PBS wrap.
Brown and MIT manhunt live updates as sources say shootings may be linked
New information:
- Law enforcement sources say an arrest warrant has now been issued for a suspect in the Dec. 13 Brown University shooting that killed two students and wounded nine others.
- Investigators are conducting an active manhunt for the suspect across multiple states, according to law enforcement sources.
- Authorities are searching for a specific rented vehicle believed to have been used by the suspect and detected both near the Brown University shooting scene and near MIT professor Nuno Loureiro’s Brookline apartment.
- The article reiterates that officials are actively investigating potential connections between the Brown shooting and Loureiro’s Dec. 15 killing, with the common vehicle as a key lead.
Authorities Investigating Possible Link Between Brown Shooting and MIT Professor’s Killing
New information:
- Confirms that authorities are formally investigating a potential connection between the Brown University classroom shooting and the killing of MIT Professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro.
- Reports that investigators currently believe Loureiro was specifically targeted in the Brookline shooting, even as the motive for the Brown attack remains unclear.
- Reiterates Loureiro’s role as a 47‑year‑old MIT physicist and fusion scientist and that the Brown shooting occurred on Saturday with his killing on Monday night.
WATCH LIVE: Officials provide update on Brown University shooting investigation
New information:
- Investigators are now actively examining a potential connection between the Brown University mass shooting and the fatal shooting of MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro in his Brookline home two days later.
- Three unnamed people familiar with the investigation say a person of interest has been identified in the shootings and investigators are actively seeking that individual.
- The FBI had previously said it knew of no links between the Brown and MIT cases, underscoring that this is a new investigative development.
- Officials confirm it has been nearly a week since the Brown attack, and that the lack of a clear facial image of the masked suspect, sparse camera coverage in the older part of Brown’s engineering building, and the shooter’s apparent use of a residential‑street door have hampered identification.
- Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha and Providence Mayor Brett Smiley publicly acknowledge growing public fear and frustration but say investigators are not discouraged and continue to canvass for phone and security footage from the week before the attack.
Person of interest identified in Brown University shooting, sources say
New information:
- Multiple law‑enforcement sources say a person of interest in the Brown University shooting has now been identified from surveillance footage.
- An active search for this identified individual is underway.
- Experts told CBS the Tuesday‑released enhanced video appears to show the person of interest 'casing the neighborhood,' adding context to the pre‑attack behavior.
Brown University shooter manhunt hampered by lack of video, source says
New information:
- Investigators say available surveillance only shows the suspect walking along a street and does not reveal their identity or where they went after the shooting.
- Police and FBI have widened public requests for residents’ videos and photos, specifically seeking footage of the suspect entering a vehicle, apartment, or residence to establish direction of travel or associated locations.
- An FBI‑linked expert, John Mulvaney of CBIZ Forensix Consulting Group, characterizes the person of interest as "somewhat unsophisticated" and apparently unaware of being repeatedly captured on security cameras.
- Brown University states that, while it has an expansive camera network, it does not cover every hallway, classroom, lab, or office across its 250‑plus buildings and that it will conduct a large‑scale systematic security review.
- The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the person responsible for the shooting, and has released digitally enhanced video/images of a person of interest described as about 5'8" with a stocky build, dressed in black with a face covering.
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