White House orders pause in green card lottery, citing linked shootings

The Department of Homeland Security ordered an immediate pause in processing of the Diversity Immigrant Visa program on December 19, 2025, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced. Noem said she was acting at the direction of President Donald Trump and instructed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to suspend the DV program, posting the action on the social platform X and saying the step was taken “to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program.”

Officials said the suspension followed investigations into a series of shootings in which authorities tied a single suspect to multiple attacks. Portuguese national Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, was identified by authorities as the suspected gunman who was believed to have carried out a mass shooting at Brown University that left two students dead and nine others wounded, and the separate killing of an MIT professor. Authorities later said the suspect was found dead. Officials also said Valente had entered the United States through the DV program in 2017 and had been granted a green card.

The Diversity Immigrant Visa program is a congressional initiative that allocates immigrant visas by lottery to nationals of countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Official descriptions of the program vary, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services cited as saying the program allocates up to 50,000 visas annually while other government references have said up to 55,000 visas are awarded each year. The administration has not specified whether the pause applies only to new registrations, to issuance of visas, or to interviews and adjudications already underway.

Administration officials framed the suspension as a public safety measure tied to the shootings, but the abrupt action immediately raised questions about legal authority and proportionality. The program was created by Congress and has survived prior political attacks. Observers said immigration advocacy groups are likely to file lawsuits challenging a programwide suspension that was ordered without a public explanation of the legal basis or a timeline for reinstatement.

Immigrant communities, advocates and legal experts warned that a broad pause could have outsized consequences for thousands of applicants and their families, many of whom come from underrepresented regions such as parts of Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Caribbean. Beyond the practical disruption of visa processing, advocates said the decision risks stigmatizing lawful immigrants and could deepen a chilling effect on people seeking legal routes to safety and opportunity.

Public health and community leaders also noted the secondary harms of the decision. Mass shootings inflict long term trauma on survivors and communities, and policy responses that single out a legal immigration channel can exacerbate fear, social division and barriers to care for affected populations. Experts said targeted reforms to vetting processes and interagency information sharing can address safety concerns while preserving legal avenues, but the administration has not outlined any such measures.

As legal challenges are expected, the pause has already injected uncertainty into an immigration system that has seen sweeping changes under the current administration. Officials and lawyers will be watching for clarifications from DHS and USCIS about the scope and duration of the pause, and for the first legal filings that will test the administration’s authority to halt a congressionally established program.