The United States government, led by President Donald Trump, has suspended the Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery, popularly known in Ghana as the “green card lottery”.
The suspension follows the deadly mass shooting at Brown University that claimed two lives.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the decision, which was ordered by President Donald Trump to review the programme and prevent further threats to public safety.
President Trump, in his first term, attempted to end the programme citing security concerns, especially after earlier violent incidents involving beneficiaries of the scheme.
Although the US authorities say the suspension is temporary, no timeline has been given for when or if the Diversity Visa Lottery will resume.
The DV programme makes up to 50,000 visas available each year through a random selection process among entries from countries with low rates of immigration to the US.
Applicants in Ghana and other countries are uncertain about the future of the programme. Ghanaians are among the countries whose citizens have benefited significantly from the programme over the years.
The suspension has sparked concern among many Ghanaians, particularly young people and families who see the lottery as their ticket to go live in the United States.
The BBC stated, “President Donald Trump has suspended the US green card lottery scheme in the wake of a mass shooting at Brown University last week in which two people were killed.
The suspect, a Portuguese man who was found dead on Thursday, entered the country through the diversity lottery immigrant visa programme (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she has paused the visa scheme under Trump’s direction to “ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous programme”.
US officials said they believe the suspect, 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente, also killed Portuguese Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno Loureiro earlier this week.
Writing on social media, Noem said Trump had previously “fought to end” the scheme in 2017 after eight people were killed in a truck-ramming attack in New York City.
Uzbekistan national Sayfullo Saipov, an Islamic State supporter who is serving multiple life sentences for the attack, entered the US through the DV1 scheme, according to Noem”.