Overview
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she directed USCIS to halt the program on the president's orders.
- Officials linked the move to the Brown and MIT cases and said the suspect "would never have been allowed" into the country under stricter policies.
- Authorities identified a 48-year-old Portuguese man as the suspect; two Brown University students were killed, nine people were injured, and an MIT professor was slain, and the suspect was later found dead.
- The congressionally created lottery typically grants up to 50,000 visas a year, with nearly 20 million applications for 2025 and more than 131,000 selectees, including 38 from Portugal.
- Critics point to Trump's long-standing opposition to the lottery and describe the suspension as part of broader efforts to curb legal immigration and pursue mass deportations.