The tragedy that struck the Brown University campus last week is triggering major repercussions for U.S. immigration policy.
The federal government has suspended a legal immigration pathway used by tens of thousands of people each year.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated Thursday evening that Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, the 48-year-old Portuguese national suspected in the Providence campus shooting, obtained permanent resident status in 2017 through the diversity visa lottery program, according to her statements on X.
At President Trump’s direction, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was ordered to immediately freeze the program, which Noem called “disastrous.”
Although a previous attack by an Afghan immigrant led to travel restrictions on Afghanistan, Haiti, and 17 other countries, the federal government has not imposed similar measures on Portugal, the suspect’s home country.
On Saturday, a gunman entered the university’s physics building, killing two students and wounding nine others. Investigators identified Valente, a former doctoral student who enrolled in the physics program in fall 2000, as the primary suspect.
Brown President Christina H. Paxson confirmed that the suspect studied at the university for a few months before taking a leave of absence the following spring and formally withdrawing two years later.
Authorities later linked the case to the murder of Nuno Loureiro, a 47-year-old MIT physics professor who was shot at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, 48 hours after the Brown shooting. Both men, originally from Portugal, are believed to have attended the same university there.
Manhunt Ends in New Hampshire
The days-long manhunt ended Thursday evening.
Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez announced that Valente was found dead in a New Hampshire storage facility.
Firearms were found near the body. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston stated that the public threat had been eliminated. Investigators believe the suspect acted alone but have not determined a motive.
The suspension has renewed a debate in Washington that has continued for nearly a decade.
The program allocates up to 50,000 permanent residency permits each year through a lottery for nationals from countries with low immigration rates to the United States.
President Trump previously attempted to end the program during his first term, CNBC reported.
In 2017, a truck-ramming attack in New York killed eight people. The perpetrator, affiliated with the Islamic State group, also entered the country through the lottery. The administration was unable to convince Congress to abolish the program.
This time, the White House appears determined to act through executive action without waiting for lawmakers’ approval.
Source: CNBC
