Ninth Circuit Blocks Biden Judge’s Order to Reopen Diversity Visa Lottery
Ninth Circuit halts order forcing State Department to reopen controversial Diversity Visa lottery.
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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked a Biden-appointed judge’s order that would have forced Secretary of State Marco Rubio to reopen the Diversity Visa lottery, allowing up to 55,000 green cards for foreigners from low-immigration countries in fiscal year 2027. In a unanimous 3-0 ruling issued on October 29, a three-judge panel granted the Trump administration’s emergency stay of the preliminary injunction handed down by U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta of the Southern District of California.
Red Eagle Law Fails to Prove Merits
Ohta, a Biden appointee with prior service as a California state judge, had ordered the State Department to reopen the lottery, setting a timeline for registration, selection, and application processing. However, the appeals court panel, consisting of Judges M. Margaret McKeown (Clinton appointee), Holly Thomas (Biden appointee), and N. Randy Smith (George W. Bush appointee), explicitly declined to endorse the State Department’s decision to leave the program dormant.
“We do not endorse the Department’s failure to open the lottery registration period,” the per curiam order stated. “Nevertheless, Red Eagle has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits because it is not within the zone of interests of the statute and does not have a cause of action. The emergency motion for a stay pending appeal is GRANTED.”
The court added that the Diversity Visa Program, created by the Immigration Act of 1990, “was enacted to encourage immigration, not generate revenue for law firms.” The sole plaintiff was Red Eagle Law L.C., an immigration firm that relies on the program for a portion of its business.
🚨 BREAKING: The 9th Circuit just FROZE a FOREIGN-BORN JUDGE’s order that would have forced Marco Rubio to reopen the Diversity Visa lottery for up to 55,000 foreigners in 2027
Program Suspended After Controversy
As previously reported, Ohta’s October 14 injunction forced the reopening of a program that the Trump administration had effectively suspended. The suspension followed the identification of Portuguese national Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, who entered the United States through the 2017 Diversity Visa lottery and later became a suspect in the Brown University shooting and the murder of an MIT professor.
Secretary Kristi Noem announced the pause at President Trump’s direction, stating that Valente “should never have been allowed in our country” and directing an immediate hold “to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program.” The Gateway Pundit covered the suspension in December 2025, noting the program’s history of admitting individuals later tied to violence, including the 2017 New York City truck attack by Sayfullo Saipov, who entered via the same lottery.
Conservative Criticism and Legal Battles
The program, which draws millions of entries annually for a random selection process favoring applicants from regions with historically lower immigration rates, has long been criticized by conservatives as prioritizing “diversity” over merit, national security, and assimilation. Trump officials have previously labeled it a pathway that failed basic screening standards.
The Ninth Circuit’s stay means the State Department is not required to open registration by November 1 while the full appeal proceeds. The panel ordered a briefing schedule for the merits of the preliminary injunction challenge. Secretary Rubio and the administration had offered no detailed public explanation for the non-opening of the 2027 registration window, which normally occurs in the fall prior to the fiscal year; the failure effectively canceled the cycle until Ohta intervened.
Source: The Gateway Pundit
