A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the federal government's emergency request to halt an order requiring the State Department to open registration for the fiscal year 2027 Diversity Visa Program by November 1.
Circuit Judges M. Margaret McKeown, N. Randy Smith, and Holly A. Thomas determined on October 29 that the government was likely to succeed on appeal because plaintiff Red Eagle Law falls outside the statute's zone of interests and lacks a cause of action. The judges stated that the visa program was created to promote immigration rather than to generate revenue for law firms, and Judge Smith concluded in a concurrence that the firm also lacked constitutional standing.
The emergency stay keeps registration paused while the government litigates its appeal, without resolving the underlying merits of the case. In San Diego, U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta had previously ordered DV-2027 Green Card lottery registration to open by November 1 after the State Department instituted a pause for security vetting reviews.
Red Eagle Law owner Curtis Morrison announced plans to pursue litigation using an eligible visa holder as a plaintiff to avoid standing defects. Established under the Immigration Act of 1990, the program provides up to 55,000 permanent residency visas annually to individuals from countries with historically low immigration rates.
