A Biden-appointed federal judge in California has ordered the Trump administration to restart the controversial “green card lottery” program it had suspended following last December’s deadly shootings at Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta of the Southern District of California issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday that ordered the State Department to move forward with the fiscal year 2027 Diversity Immigrant Visa program. Under Ohta’s order, registration must open by October 18 and remain open through November 19.
That gives the Trump administration only a few days to get the system up and running again.
NEW: California-based federal judge Jinsook Ohta (Biden appointee) has ruled that the U.S. State Department must reinstate its Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery for fiscal year 2027 by Sunday. The program offers permanent residency in the U.S. to 50,000+ applicants every year, typically from countries with lower immigration to the U.S. Many come from Africa. The Trump admin suspended the program last year after a Portuguese national who came to the U.S. via the diversity lottery was suspected of a deadly shooting at Brown University & the murder of a MIT professor before taking his own life. https://t.co/wUm1iTQPue
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 15, 2026
NEW: California-based federal judge Jinsook Ohta (Biden appointee) has ruled that the U.S. State Department must reinstate its Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery for fiscal year 2027 by Sunday.
The program offers permanent residency in the U.S. to 50,000+ applicants every year, typically from countries with lower immigration to the U.S. Many come from Africa.
The Trump admin suspended the program last year after a Portuguese national who came to the U.S. via the diversity lottery was suspected of a deadly shooting at Brown University & the murder of a MIT professor before taking his own life.
According to USA.gov, the green card lottery program makes up to 55,000 immigrant visas available each year to people from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. Those who "win" the lottery don't automatically receive green cards, but they are given the opportunity to apply for an immigrant visa and undergo the required State Department screenings and vetting process.
The Trump administration put the lottery program on ice last December after authorities identified Portuguese national Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente as the man who carried out the shootings at Brown University and MIT that left three people dead. Neves-Valente, it turned out, had entered the U.S. through the green card lottery system, and the pause in the program allowed the administration time to screen the existing vetting process for any national security risks.
California immigration firm Red Eagle Law sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the program's suspension, which led to Judge Ohta’s ruling this week. The judge had previously denied the firm’s request for a temporary restraining order but has now granted its request for a preliminary injunction.
The State Department does not appear to have publicly responded to the ruling as of Thursday afternoon.