Green Card Lottery Halted: List of Countries to be Affected
US Suspends Green Card Lottery After Immigrant Linked to Brown University Shooting
The Donald Trump administration has suspended the Green Card lottery program, officially known as the Diversity Visa (DV) program, following a shocking campus shooting that has reignited debate over US immigration policy and national security.
The decision comes after authorities identified Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national, as the prime suspect in a deadly shooting linked to Brown University. Investigators said Valente also killed a professor affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) before he was found dead on Thursday evening from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Valente had entered the United States in 2017 through the Diversity Visa lottery and was later granted permanent residency. Confirming the suspension, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the case exposed serious flaws in the system. Calling the attack “heinous,” she stated that Valente “should never have been allowed in our country,” signaling a tougher stance on immigration screening under the administration.
Green Card Lottery: What Is the Green Card Lottery?
The DV1 program, commonly referred to as the Green Card lottery, is not the standard employment- or family-based Green Card pathway. Instead, it is a random selection process designed to promote immigration diversity by offering permanent residency to individuals from countries with historically low migration rates to the United States.
Each year, up to 55,000 Diversity Visas are made available. For the 2025 lottery cycle alone, nearly 20 million people applied worldwide, with more than 131,000 individuals selected when spouses and dependents were included. Despite being chosen, applicants must still pass extensive background checks, interviews, and security vetting before entering the US.
Portuguese citizens, such as Valente, historically receive very few slots. In the most recent cycle, Portugal accounted for just 38 selections, underscoring how rare his pathway to the US was.
Why India, China, and Others Are Not Affected
While headlines around the move suggest a sweeping immigration clampdown, the suspension does not affect countries such as India, China (mainland), Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland), the Philippines, South Korea, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Vietnam. These nations already send large numbers of immigrants to the US and are therefore ineligible for the Diversity Visa program.