WASHINGTON DC: The United States (US) has suspended the Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery program after it was revealed that the suspect in the recent Brown University shooting had entered the country through the scheme.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said late Thursday that President Donald Trump instructed her to immediately pause the program. Acting on the directive, Noem ordered the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to halt the DV program, saying the move was necessary to prevent further harm to Americans.
Calling the incident “heinous,” Noem said the suspect should never have been allowed to enter the country, international media reports said.
The decision follows a mass shooting at Brown University last week that left two people dead and nine others injured. Authorities later discovered the suspect dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds at a storage facility in New Hampshire, according to reports.
Investigators also believe the same individual was responsible for the fatal shooting of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F. G. Loureiro, who was killed in Boston on Monday, according to US Attorney for Massachusetts Leah B. Foley.
The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program issues more than 50,000 immigrant visas each year, according to USCIS. The program is designed for applicants from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States, the State Department says.
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