What to know about the diversity visa program used by Brown University shooter
Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez details key parts of the investigation into the suspect Brown University shooter
Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez details key parts of the investigation into the suspect Brown University shooter
- According to an affidavit, Neves Valente, a Portuguese national, was issued a diversity immigrant visa (DV1) on May 10, 2017.
- Noem announced that she would be directing United States Citizenship and Immigration services to “pause” the program.
- The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program provides visas to natives of countries with low immigration rates.
The Trump administration is suspending the green card program used by the shooter who killed two students at Brown University and injured nine, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Dec. 18.
On Thursday, Dec. 18, law enforcement identified Claudio Manuel Neves Valente as the shooter at Brown University on Dec. 13, and as the killer of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro, who was shot to death in his Brookline home on Dec. 16.
According to an affidavit, Neves Valente, a Portuguese national, was issued a diversity immigrant visa (DV1) on May 10, 2017. He was then admitted to the country as a Legal Permanent Resident (new immigrant) in September of that year.
After Neves Valente was found dead Thursday night, Noem announced that she would be directing United States Citizenship and Immigration services to “pause” the program.
“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” she posted on social media.
What is the diversity lottery immigrant visa program?
The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program provides visas to natives of countries with low immigration rates, according to USA.gov.
The visa program was created by the Immigration Act of 1990 with the aim to diversify the incoming pool of immigrants and provide people with no family or economic ties to the U.S. a small chance to enter through a lengthy application and lottery system. Those who receive the visa are then eligible for a green card and, eventually, U.S. citizenship.
It awards up to 55,000 immigrant visas each year, making it just a small fraction of the country’s overall immigration.
Most of the people admitted to the program are from Africa, Asia and eastern European countries that were part of the Soviet bloc, according to data from the State Department. In 2017, 15 visas were issued to immigrants from Portugal.
Trump and the diversity immigrant program
President Donald Trump has long wanted to get rid of the diversity immigrant visa program, calling for its immediate end in 2017 after an Uzbekistan native was arrested for a truck attack that killed eight people in New York.
The perpetrator, Sayfullo Saipov, also entered the U.S. on the diversity immigrant visa, in 2010.
“We need to get rid of the lottery program as soon as possible,” Trump said before a Cabinet meeting at the White House. He said in a post on social media at that time that he wants a “merit based” program instead.
Trump has made immigration a top priority of his administration this term, too. He has expanded travel bans and restrictions, halted immigration applications and has pushed for a “Trump Gold Card,” which would allow applicants to receive U.S. residency “in record time” with a contribution of $1 million, according to the website.
Noem said Thursday that she is ordering the pause of the DV1 program “at President Trump’s direction.”
How did Claudio Manuel Neves Valente enter the US? Timeline
According to information provided by Brown on the affidavit, Valente was admitted as a F-1 student to attend Brown University as a physics PhD program in 2000. He was admitted at Logan International Airport in Boston that year.
However, he only attended Brown from the Fall of 2000 through the spring 2001 semester before going on a leave of absence. Valente officially withdrew from Brown in the fall of 2003.
The affidavit then says that Valente was issued a diversity immigrant visa on May 10, 2017, and was lawfully admitted to the US at JFK International Airport in New York on September 14, 2017.
Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez said at a press conference Thursday night that Valente’s last known address was in Miami, Florida, and that he flew up to Rhode Island in October.
The exact timeline of events is unclear, but Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said that they “know he was moving around New England in that October, November, December area.” The vehicle believed to be used by the suspect was rented in Boston on Dec. 1, according to the affidavit.
Contributing: Katie Landeck, Alan Gomez, Ashley May
This content is sourced from www.providencejournal.com and is shared for informational purposes only.
