A series of tragic shootings at Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) culminating in the death of the suspect, Claudio Neves Valente, a Portuguese national, has led President Donald Trump to suspend the green card lottery program. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the suspension of the Diversity Visa program, stating that Valente, the 48-year-old suspect, "should never have been allowed in our country."

The violence began at Brown University's Barus & Holley engineering building during final exams, where two students were killed and nine others wounded. Authorities identified the victims as Ella Cook, a sophomore from Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an Uzbek-American freshman student. Two days later, MIT nuclear science and engineering professor Nuno F Gomes Loureiro, 47, also from Portugal, was shot "multiple times" at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, approximately 50 miles from Providence.

Police launched an extensive search, initially facing public frustration over perceived slow progress. Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez stated that the killer "could be anywhere" and appealed for public tips and home-security videos. An arrest warrant was secured for Neves Valente, and investigators found a rental car matching a description seen at both crime scenes. The search focused on various locations, including a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, after a vehicle possibly linked to the suspect was found. Ultimately, Neves Valente was found dead on Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The suspension of the green card lottery program came swiftly after Neves Valente was identified. U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah B. Foley confirmed that Neves Valente obtained legal permanent residence status in 2017 through the diversity visa program. This program, created by Congress, makes up to 50,000 green cards available each year by lottery to individuals from countries underrepresented in the United States, many of which are in Africa. Nearly 20 million people applied for the 2025 visa lottery, with over 131,000 selected to apply, including spouses. After selection, winners undergo rigorous vetting and interviews at consulates, subject to the same requirements as other green-card applicants. In Valente's cohort, Portuguese citizens won only 38 slots.

President Trump has long opposed the diversity visa lottery, viewing it as a flawed immigration pathway. Secretary Noem's announcement is seen as the latest instance of the administration using a tragedy to advance its immigration policy goals, following previous actions like imposing sweeping rules against immigration from Afghanistan after a fatal attack by an Afghan national. Trump continues to advocate for limiting or eliminating avenues to legal immigration, even when enshrined in law or the Constitution, such as birthright citizenship, which the Supreme Court recently agreed to review. The suspension of the green card lottery is expected to invite legal challenges. Meanwhile, the FBI had offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the person responsible for the attacks, with Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha expressing confidence that the killer would be caught.