The Trump administration secured an immigration court victory Thursday when the Ninth Circuit blocked an order requiring the State Department to reopen the 2027 Diversity Visa lottery.
A three-judge panel granted the administration’s emergency request to stay a preliminary injunction issued earlier this month by U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta.
Ohta had ordered the State Department to announce registration details by Oct. 29 and begin accepting applications for the fiscal 2027 lottery by Nov. 1.
Her order also required the department to notify selected applicants by Dec. 3, creating an expedited timetable for restarting the program.
The Ninth Circuit’s intervention means the State Department does not have to reopen registration while the government’s appeal proceeds.
The Diversity Visa Program makes up to 55,000 immigrant visas available annually to people from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States.
The dispute began after the State Department did not open registration for fiscal 2027, effectively leaving the program inactive.
Red Eagle Law, an immigration law firm representing Diversity Visa clients, sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the federal government in August.
The firm alleged the administration unlawfully withheld required agency action and violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to implement the program.
Ohta sided with Red Eagle at the preliminary stage and ordered the administration to move forward with the lottery despite its continuing objections.
The Ninth Circuit concluded, however, that the administration demonstrated a strong likelihood of prevailing because Red Eagle itself may not have a valid legal claim.
The court emphasized that Red Eagle was the sole plaintiff and had not joined any prospective Diversity Visa applicants to its lawsuit.
Instead, the law firm argued that suspending the lottery harmed its business because selected immigrants frequently hire attorneys to navigate the visa process.
The panel concluded that the firm’s commercial interests were not sufficiently connected to the interests Congress intended to protect when creating the Diversity Visa Program.
“We do not endorse the Department’s failure to open the lottery registration period,” the court wrote while explaining the limited basis for its decision.
The majority nevertheless determined that Red Eagle had not demonstrated a likelihood of success because it was outside the statute’s protected “zone of interests.”
Circuit Judge N. Randy Smith went further in a separate concurrence, concluding that Red Eagle also lacked constitutional standing to bring the lawsuit.
Smith warned that accepting the firm’s theory of injury could dramatically expand circumstances in which lawyers could challenge government policies affecting potential future clients.
The judge said doing so could open the “floodgates” and permit attorneys to “roam the country in search of governmental wrongdoing.”
The ruling is particularly notable because two members of the three-judge panel were appointed by Democratic presidents.
Judge M. Margaret McKeown was appointed by President Bill Clinton, while Judge Holly Thomas was appointed by President Joe Biden.
Smith, who wrote separately to question Red Eagle’s Article III standing, was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush.
The decision does not determine whether the Trump administration lawfully suspended the Diversity Visa lottery or permanently terminate the program.
Instead, it temporarily removes the lower court mandate forcing the State Department to immediately restart registration while the underlying appeal continues.
The appellate court itself acknowledged that the State Department’s failure to launch the fiscal 2027 program effectively canceled this year’s lottery.
Red Eagle attorney Curtis Morrison has indicated that challengers intend to continue litigating and could bring another case involving an actual prospective Diversity Visa applicant.
Such a lawsuit could present different standing questions because an eligible immigrant seeking entry into the lottery would have a more direct interest in the program than a law firm.
For now, however, the Ninth Circuit’s emergency stay leaves the fiscal 2027 Diversity Visa registration process inactive and eliminates the Nov. 1 reopening deadline imposed by Ohta.
The appellate ruling therefore gives the Trump administration immediate relief while leaving the broader legal battle over the future of the Diversity Visa Program unresolved.
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