President Donald Trump ordered the immediate suspension of the diversity visa lottery program Thursday, responding to the discovery that the suspect in last week's deadly shootings at Brown University and MIT entered the United States through the program that awards green cards by random selection.
The executive action affects up to 50,000 green cards annually and throws into uncertainty the status of approximately 131,000 lottery winners selected for 2025, including their spouses. For universities across the country—which rely on the program as one pathway for international students, researchers, and faculty to remain in the U.S.—the suspension marks another complication in an already difficult immigration landscape.
