A Republican senator has called for ending the US Diversity Visa Lottery, stressing it's about national security, not race. Senator Markwayne Mullin spoke on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, backing the Trump administration's decision to pause the system. The programme, known as the Green Card Lottery, grants permanent residency to 50,000 people yearly from countries with low US immigration. Mullin said, “This DEI lottery system for immigration should be ended.” He added, “Look, a visa to be inside the United States is a privilege, not a right. And we have to vet these individuals properly. This isn’t about racism. This is about securing the nation and making sure the people inside the United States are secure first and foremost.” He also called the mass immigration system “lunatic” and praised Trump’s stance: “President Trump is right — this should be ended, and ended immediately.” The comments came after the Trump administration paused the Diversity Visa Programme following a deadly shooting at Brown University in which two students and an MIT professor were killed. Nine others were seriously hurt. The shooter was Claudio Neves Valente, a Portuguese national who entered the US through the lottery in 2017. He later died by suicide. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the pause on X, citing President Trump’s orders: “At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program.” The Diversity Visa Programme started with the Immigration Act of 1990. It aims to diversify US immigration by offering chances to those from low-immigration countries. Trump has frequently criticized it for poor screening. Recently, the administration also imposed travel restrictions on several countries after another deadly shooting by an Afghan national.