A federal judge in California has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate the Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery for fiscal year 2027, reversing a suspension imposed last December following deadly shootings at Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday requiring the State Department to reopen the program by October 18 and keep registration available through November 19, according to Bloomberg Law.
The lottery provides up to 55,000 immigrant visas annually to applicants from countries with historically low levels of immigration to the United States, including many African nations. Successful applicants can obtain permanent residency after completing the required screening and application process.
The suspension followed two shootings in December 2025 that authorities linked to Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national and former Brown University student. Four people were killed across the incidents in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The suspect was subsequently found dead by suicide.
Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the suspension, saying Valente had obtained permanent residency through the diversity visa program. She directed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the lottery, according to Bloomberg's December reporting.
The administration subsequently introduced additional restrictions. In March, it issued a rule requiring diversity visa applicants to hold passports.
California-based immigration law firm Red Eagle Law LC challenged the suspension in federal court, seeking to restore the program. Ohta had previously denied the firm's request for a temporary restraining order before granting the preliminary injunction.
The ruling follows another legal challenge concerning the program. In September, a federal judge in Northern California found that the State Department had resumed processing fiscal 2026 diversity visa applications at what the court described as "an unprecedented glacial pace."
The lottery decision comes amid broader restrictions on legal immigration. The administration also recently expanded the factors immigration officers can consider when deciding whether green card applicants are likely to become dependent on public assistance.
That separate rule, effective September 18, permits consideration of a wider range of benefits, including Medicaid and food assistance. Immigration advocates have warned it could discourage eligible families from seeking assistance, while the administration argues the policy promotes self-sufficiency.
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