Name: Noem recommends pause to diversity visa lottery program
Uploaded: 2025-12-19T15:13:31.746Z
Duration: 1 min 38 s
Description: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is recommending a pause to the U.S. diversity visa lottery program after the suspect in the Brown University shooting was identified and located.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is recommending a pause to the U.S. diversity visa lottery program after the suspect in the Brown University shooting was identified and located.

Washington

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has directed US citizenship and immigration services to pause the diversity visa lottery program, following claims that the program allowed a suspect in recent shootings to enter the United States. Noem announced the move on social media, stating it was done to ensure public safety and at the direction of President Trump.

However, experts note that Noem does not have the sole authority to end the program, as the State Department is responsible for issuing diversity visas and Congress would need to pass legislation to eliminate it entirely. The administration's unified stance on the issue was emphasized, but previous attempts to end the program through legislation have not succeeded.

Noem recommends pause to diversity visa lottery program

The Trump administration is pausing the diversity visa lottery program, which it claims allowed the suspect in the Brown University and MIT professor shootings to come to the US. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that move on social media. She says she's directing US citizenship and immigration services to pause the program to quote, ensure no more Americans are harmed. CBS News White House reporter Aaron Navarro joins us now live from the White House with more on this aspect of the story. Good morning, Aaron. So fact check this claim for us. Does Noem really have the power to pause or even end this program? Good morning, Errol. Secretary Noem alone does not have the authority to end this program. And that's mainly because it's the State Department who is in charge of issuing these visas to countries. They have their own restrictions on how many can come from each country. And there's an annual cap of about 55,000. Noem, who has overview over the US citizen and immigration services, as you mentioned, handles a smaller portion of these diversity visas given to immigrants already here on a different type of immigration status. And while we have not yet heard from the State Department on if they will end this program, Noem saying last night that this was done at President Trump's direction signals that the administration is unified in this stance going into today. But one other kind of roadblock in their attempt to end this program altogether is Congress, as they would have to get involved to completely scrap the program. In his first term in 2017, President Trump attempted to do this through legislation, but that did not have the votes. All right, Aaron Navarro at the White House. Thank you.

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