President Donald Trump has ordered the immediate suspension of the Diversity Visa Lottery Program, commonly known as the green card lottery.
In a statement on Friday, December 19, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the decision follows renewed scrutiny of the program after a deadly shooting involving a former diversity visa recipient and earlier terrorist attacks connected to the same immigration pathway.
She said the individual responsible for the Brown University shooting entered the United States through the diversity visa program and later obtained permanent residency.
"The Brown University shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente entered the United States through the diversity lottery immigrant visa program (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card. This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country," she said.
Noem also pointed to a previous attack during Trump’s earlier presidency, saying concerns over the program were raised after a deadly terrorist incident in New York City involving a diversity visa recipient.
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"In 2017, President Trump fought to end this program, following the devastating NYC truck ramming by an ISIS terrorist, who entered under the DV1 program, and murdered eight people," she added.
Noem said the order from Trump takes effect immediately, with immigration authorities instructed to halt the program while further action is considered.
"At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program," she concluded.
This comes weeks after Trump announced that he intends to halt migration from Third World countries entirely.
In a statement on Friday, November 28, he described the pause as necessary for America’s recovery, adding that he will remove noncitizens he considers unhelpful to the United States.
Trump added that his administration will eliminate federal support for them and denaturalize individuals he believes threaten domestic stability.
"I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Joe Biden's Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any foreign national who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization," he said.
Trump said the objective of the measures is to reduce what he described as illegal populations, including individuals admitted under what he claims was an unauthorised process.
"These goals will be pursued with the aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations, including those admitted through an unauthorized and illegal Autopen approval process," he added.
Trump insisted that reversing migration is the only way to resolve what he views as America’s immigration challenges.
"Only reverse migration can fully cure this situation. Other than that, Happy Thanksgiving to all, except those that hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for. You won't be here for long," he further said.
