The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked a foreign-born Biden-appointed judge’s order that would have compelled Secretary of State Marco Rubio to reopen the controversial 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 Thursday, 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, according to Bloomberg Law.
Ohta, born in Seoul, South Korea, and confirmed as a Biden appointee after prior service as a California state judge appointed by Gavin Newsom, had ordered Rubio’s State Department to announce registration details by midnight October 29, open the lottery by November 1 for a 30-day period, notify selectees by December 3, and process applications through the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2027.
The appeals court panel, 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., a California immigration firm that has represented past lottery selectees and relies on the program for a portion of its business.
Attorney Curtis Morrison, who has publicly updated followers on the case, previously indicated the firm would pursue additional litigation on behalf of a potential future entrant.
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Ohta’s October 14 injunction forced the reopening of a program the Trump administration had effectively suspended after Portuguese national Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, who entered the United States through the 2017 Diversity Visa lottery and later obtained a green card, was identified as the suspect in the deadly 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.
The program, which draws millions of entries annually for a random selection process favoring applicants from regions with historically lower immigration rates (a large share from Africa), 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.
🚨 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
GREAT! Keep it that way!
A foreign judge had ordered State Dept. to start registration by November 1 for the program, which hands out up to 55,000 green cards a year by RANDOM drawing 😡
It was an immigration LAW FIRM who sued that makes money representing lottery winners, and the court said the program was “enacted to encourage immigration, not generate revenue for law firms”
Congress should step in ASAP and END this program!
Keep pushing, Marco 👏🏻
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 30, 2026
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