President Donald Trump has ordered the suspension of the green card lottery programme in the United States.
The directive was made public on Friday by Kristi Noem, homeland security secretary, during a news briefing.
Noem said the programme facilitated the entry of the individual responsible for the shootings at Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The scheme, officially called the Diversity Visa Immigrant Programme (DV1), distributes up to 50,000 green cards annually through a lottery process.
It is particularly popular among applicants from Africa and other developing regions.
Earlier this year, nearly 20 million people applied for the lottery, with about 131,000 selected for the next stage.
Those who advance must pass thorough background checks and meet standard requirements before being granted permanent residency.
Trump has consistently criticised the initiative, describing it as a threat to national security.
Oscar Perez, police chief in Providence, Rhode Island, reported that Claudio Neves Valente, a Portuguese citizen, first came to the US on a student visa in 2000.
Perez added that Valente became a permanent resident in 2017 and died on Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
On social media, Noem said, “This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country.”
The announcement reflects a continuing pattern of using violent incidents to justify stricter immigration controls under the Trump administration.
Following a November attack by an Afghan national on National Guard members, the administration introduced broad restrictions on immigration from Afghanistan and several other nations.
In the 2025 lottery, Portuguese citizens were allocated only 38 green card slots.
Even lottery winners are required to attend interviews at US consulates and satisfy the same eligibility and vetting criteria as other applicants.