Trump administration suspends US green card lottery

• Trump administration suspends Diversity Visa lottery over security concerns.
• Millions of applicants face uncertainty as processing and future registrations halt.
• Critics warn move bypasses Congress; legal challenges expected.

In a major shift to U.S. legal immigration policy, the Trump administration has officially suspended the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, commonly known as the "green card lottery."

The decision, announced on December 19, 2025, comes in the wake of a series of deadly shootings at Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The Catalyst: Security Concerns

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the suspension via a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating that the move was made at the direct instruction of President Donald Trump. The administration cited the immigration history of the suspect in the recent attacks, 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente, as the primary reason for the pause.

Valente, a Portuguese national, originally entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2000. However, investigators revealed that he obtained lawful permanent residence in 2017 through the Diversity Visa lottery. "This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country," Noem stated, framing the program as a vulnerability to national security.

The suspect was found dead on Thursday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after allegedly killing two students at Brown University and an MIT professor.

What the Suspension Means

The Diversity Visa program typically makes up to 50,000 green cards available annually to individuals from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. The administration’s order has several immediate impacts:

• Program Pause: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has been ordered to immediately stop processing applications and selections for the program.
• DV-2025 & DV-2027 Impact: While nearly 20 million people applied for the 2025 cycle, and over 131,000 were recently selected, their path to residency is now in limbo. Furthermore, the registration for the DV-2027 cycle, which had already seen unprecedented delays, is now effectively halted.
• Vetting Overhaul: The administration has signaled that any potential reinstatement would require a total overhaul of vetting procedures, though the President has long advocated for the total elimination of the lottery in favor of a merit-based system.

A Broader Immigration Crackdown

The suspension of the lottery is part of a wider intensification of immigration restrictions. Earlier this month, the administration expanded travel bans and suspended immigration applications from dozens of countries, citing "deficient screening and vetting information."

Critics and immigration advocates have quickly denounced the move, arguing that the lottery program already includes rigorous background checks and that the administration is using a singular tragedy to bypass Congress and dismantle a legally established immigration pathway.

Legal Challenges Ahead

Because the Diversity Visa program was created by the Immigration Act of 1990, constitutional experts suggest the executive branch may lack the authority to permanently abolish it without congressional action.

Legal challenges are expected to be filed in federal court imminently, as the suspension affects hundreds of thousands of applicants who have already been selected and are in various stages of the vetting process.

For now, the State Department and USCIS have paused all movement on the program, leaving millions of applicants worldwide in a state of uncertainty.