US Judge Ohta: California Law Firm Denied 2027 Green Card Lottery Restart

• A California immigration law firm's request for a temporary restraining order to restart the 2027 Green Card Lottery was denied by a federal judge.
• U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta cited significant timing issues and questioned her authority to compel the State Department to implement the program.
• The government argued the firm lacked legal standing due to its economic interest and had waited too long to file the lawsuit.
• The Diversity Visa program, which provides up to 55,000 visas annually, remains suspended for the DV-2027 cycle.
• The court will consider a motion for a preliminary injunction before the end of September, offering a potential next step for the case.

Judge Ohta largely concurred with the government's assessment regarding the timing, remarking that "much of the ship has sailed already."

A federal judge in San Diego has rejected a bid by a Southern California immigration law firm to compel the immediate restart of the 2027 Green Card Lottery, officially known as the Diversity Visa program. Red Eagle Law, the firm in question, had sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) to force the State Department to implement the program before its typical registration period commences in October. The firm's legal challenge, initiated with a lawsuit filed in July against Secretary of State Marco Rubio, aimed to reverse the Trump administration's suspension of the lottery for the upcoming fiscal year. Secretary Rubio had previously appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 28, 2026, to discuss President Donald Trump's policy towards Venezuela following a U.S. military raid that ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.

U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta, a Joe Biden appointee, ultimately denied the firm's request, citing significant timing issues and questioning the court's authority to provide the requested relief. This decision leaves the DV-2027 lottery in a state of suspension, with no immediate court order to resume the process. The firm, which relies on serving applicants for this program, had argued that the government was intentionally delaying implementation to effectively run out the clock for the 2027 cycle.

During the proceedings, Red Eagle Law founder Curtis Morrison contended that the State Department had misled his firm regarding the registration period until it was too late to act effectively. He highlighted that the September visa bulletin typically announces the entry record for the next fiscal year, expressing concern that the government might skip the DV-2027 allotment entirely and proceed directly to DV-2028, "if at all." The firm asserted that the program's suspension had directly led to a loss of clients, impacting their economic interests. Morrison suggested that the court could order the State Department to resume the 2027 program on an expedited schedule to mitigate the impact of the delays.

However, Department of Justice attorney Ian Pike countered these arguments, asserting that Red Eagle Law lacked the necessary legal standing to bring the lawsuit. Pike argued that the firm's interest was purely economic, existing "downstream" of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), and therefore not a federally protected right that the statute intended to safeguard. He explicitly stated that Red Eagle Law possessed no federally protected right to bill clients for services under the INA. Furthermore, Pike contended that the law firm had waited too long to file its lawsuit, making it exceedingly difficult for the court to intervene effectively. He emphasized that "inventing timetables for the agency to create whole cloth seems outside the court’s jurisdiction to act" and that "to write new regulations on an ad hoc basis seems outside the authority of what the court can grant."

Judge Ohta largely concurred with the government's assessment regarding the timing, remarking that "much of the ship has sailed already." She questioned the feasibility of "fix[ing] the injury for fiscal year 2027," even if she were to act swiftly. While acknowledging Morrison's proposal for an expedited "makeup" schedule, the judge expressed skepticism about her ability to effectively implement such a remedy, noting that "everything is on the later train, but roughly, the same amount of people would have the same opportunity." She concluded that "in this timing, regardless of whose fault it is, no matter how fast I act, it would still be a little too late."

Despite denying the temporary restraining order, Judge Ohta indicated that she would consider a motion for a preliminary injunction before the end of September. She acknowledged the potential significance of such an injunction, particularly given the time-sensitive nature of the visa lottery registration process. Morrison voiced concern that without a court order before the October registration period, the government might argue that the lawsuit itself has become moot. Judge Ohta also noted that while she couldn't address the suspension of the lottery last year or the May application winners, a preliminary injunction could at least ensure the numerical allotment is satisfied.

The Diversity Visa program, commonly known as the Green Card Lottery, has been a pathway to permanent resident status for noncitizen applicants for over three decades. Established through the Immigration and Nationality Act, this program annually provides up to 55,000 diversity visas. The typical process involves a registration period that usually runs from October to November, with the announcement of winners following in May of the subsequent year. This long-standing program aims to diversify the immigrant population in the United States by selecting applicants from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the U.S. The current suspension of this program for the DV-2027 cycle marks a significant disruption to this established immigration pathway.

This ruling signals continued uncertainty for prospective 2027 Diversity Visa applicants and their legal representatives, as immediate efforts to compel the lottery's restart have failed due to issues of standing and timing. Lawyers should advise clients that the DV-2027 program remains suspended, while monitoring the upcoming preliminary injunction motion for any potential shift.

Source: Original reporting via City News Service and Associated Press.