US Suspends Visa Lottery Program After Brown University Attack

The US government has announced the immediate suspension of the visa lottery program (DV1) following the involvement of Claudio Neves Valente, the alleged perpetrator of the Brown University attack, who had entered the country through this program.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem stated that Valente, of Portuguese origin, had received a visa through the DV1 program in 2017 and was granted a green card.

The DV1 program began in 1990 and allows approximately 50,000 people per year to be granted residency in the US, subject to conditions regarding education, professional experience, and origin. Candidates undergo examination and interview before the visa is granted.

Noem mentioned that President Trump had tried to terminate the program in 2017 after a terrorist attack in New York by a man who had entered the US through DV1.

The 48-year-old Valente, who allegedly killed two Brown University students and an MIT professor, was found dead, according to Providence police.