A US federal appeals court has temporarily blocked an order requiring the Trump administration to reopen the Diversity Visa lottery.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday granted the U.S. government's emergency request to stay a previous court order. The previous ruling required the State Department to open the Diversity Visa Program for fiscal year 2027 on Sunday, Nov. 1.
Red Eagle Law, a California-based immigration law firm that represents Diversity Visa recipients, sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio in August over the State Department's failure to open registration for the Lottery.
The trial will continue while the US Lottery remains blocked. Newsweek said it has contacted the State Department for comment and is awaiting a response.
The Diversity Visa Program makes up to 55,000 visas available each year to people from countries with low immigration rates to the United States.
Failure to open the Diversity Visa Lottery could have serious consequences for thousands of people around the world, especially those from countries with historically low immigration rates to the United States. This denies qualified applicants the opportunity to pursue permanent residency. ©LAPSI.al
