- Texas Republican Rep. Keith Self introduced legislation on October 22, 2026 to permanently end the Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery programme
- The bill comes after a US court ordered the Trump administration to resume processing DV-2026 applications following a December 2025 pause
- Nearly 4,000 Kenyans registered for the DV-2026 cycle, with DV-2027 registration still closed as the administration pursues an appeal
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Elijah Ntongai is an experienced editor at TUKO.co.ke, with more than four years in financial, business, labour and technology research and reporting. His work provides valuable insights into Kenyan, African, and global trends.
A Texas Republican lawmaker has introduced legislation to abolish the Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery, popularly known as the Green Card Lottery programme.
Source: Getty Images
The programme distributes up to 55,000 green cards annually to nationals from countries historically under-represented in US immigration, including Kenya.
Rep. Keith Self filed the bill on October 22, 2026, describing the programme as "riddled with fraud and weak identity checks" and calling on Congress to prevent courts from compelling the Trump administration to keep it running.
What the Green Card bill proposes
The legislation targets Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the provision that establishes the diversity visa category, and proposes its outright repeal.
Accompanying amendments would strip all references to the diversity category from related sections governing numerical limits, allocation procedures, and petition requirements. The bill offers no replacement programme, no transition arrangements, and no protection for applicants already in the pipeline.
Self announced the bill on X, writing:
"I just introduced a bill to terminate the Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery — a program that gives 55,000 green cards a year to foreigners from third-world countries and is riddled with fraud and weak identity checks. Congress cannot let liberal activist judges force the Trump Administration to keep this failed program alive. We need to shut it down for good."
Impact on Kenyan applicants
According to State Department data published by the Kentucky Consular Center, 3,949 Kenyans registered as prospective applicants in the DV-2026 cycle.
The DV-2026 fiscal year closed on September 30, 2026, meaning any selectee who did not complete processing before that date has forfeited their chance regardless of court outcomes.
The bill's consequences would fall most heavily on DV-2027 and future applicants.
Kenyan nationals who were planning to apply for the DV-2027 cohort now face a compounding uncertainty because (1) the 2027 registration window, which was supposed to open by October, has not opened, (2) the Trump administration is contesting a court order to reopen it, and (3) Congress is considering legislation to eliminate the programme altogether.
The bill has been referred to the committee and would need to pass both chambers before being signed into law.
Kenyan applicants should continue monitoring official State Department and USCIS communications and avoid falling victim to anyone claiming to offer guaranteed DV visas or expedited processing.
Green Card court battle and administrative pause
The legislation is a direct response to a judicial setback for the Trump administration.
As reported earluer on TUKO.co.ke, the State Department suspended diversity visa issuance in December 2025, citing national security concerns.
TUKO.co.ke further reported that on August 28, 2026, the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled in Medani et al. v. Trump et al., ordering the government to resume adjudication of DV-2026 applications to the extent practicable.
The State Department subsequently confirmed the December 2025 pause was lifted and resumed issuing diversity visas.
The administration is separately appealing a court order requiring it to reopen the DV-2027 registration period, which had not launched when the fiscal year began on October 1, 2026.
As of October 22, the State Department had not provided a new registration timeline.
Source: TUKO.co.ke