American Visa Lottery: Trump Suspends Green Card Visa Scheme After Brown Shooting Incident
- Donald Trump has suspended the green card lottery after a mass shooting linked to the diversity visa programme
- The suspect in the tragic mass shooting, Claudio Neves Valente, entered the US via the lottery scheme
- The American Visa Lottery scheme makes up to 50,000 visas available annually through a random selection process
US President Donald Trump has suspended the US green card lottery scheme following the mass shooting at Brown University, in which two people were killed.
The suspect, 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente, was a Portuguese man who was found dead on December 18.
Source: Getty Images
He entered the country through the diversity lottery immigrant visa programme (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card.
BBC reported that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the pause to ensure that no more Americans are harmed by what she called a disastrous programme.
US officials said they believe Valente also killed Portuguese Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro earlier this week.
The visa scheme makes up to 50,000 visas available each year through a random selection process among entries from countries with low rates of immigration to the US.
It is open to people born in countries with historically low immigration rates to the US.
Noem said Trump had previously tried to end the scheme in 2017 after eight people were killed in a truck-ramming attack in New York City.
Uzbekistan national Sayfullo Saipov, an Islamic State supporter who is serving multiple life sentences for the attack, entered the US through the DV1 scheme, according to Noem.
Her comments came right after Neves Valente was found dead in a storage facility in New Hampshire, from what police believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
He was found dead with a satchel and two firearms. Evidence in a car nearby matched to the scene of the shooting at Brown University in Providence, according to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha.
Trump's crackdown on immigration to the US
The Trump administration has taken a hard stance on immigration, especially from the developing world. At one point, Ghana was in line for a travel ban.
Trump said he plans to permanently pause migration to America from Ghana and all other third-world countries.
The US president wrote in a Truth Social post that the decision would allow the US system to fully recover from past immigration policies.
Source: Getty Images
He maintains that these policies have eroded the gains and living conditions of many Americans.
Trump, however, did not provide details of his plan or name which countries that might be affected.
Trump's comments came after an Afghan national was accused of shooting two members of the National Guard in Washington DC.
The joy of winning the US visa lottery
YEN.com.gh reported that a couple celebrated migrating to the US after emerging as winners of the diversity visa lottery.
In a TikTok video, the wife shared how they applied and won twice and showed how they relocated with their kids.
Responding to netizens who asked how they did it, the couple said they first applied in 2021 and won in 2022.
Proofreading by Samuel Gitonga, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh
