The appellate court determined that the plaintiff may lack standing in its suit against the State Department.
The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted an emergency request from President Trump’s administration to stay U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta’s preliminary injunction that would have required the U.S. State Department to open the fiscal year 2027 Diversity Visa Program by November 1.
The green card lottery makes up to 55,000 visas available annually for people from countries with low rates of immigration. The appeals court said that when the State Department did not open registration for the program the agency was “effectively canceling” it. The decision does not decide the case, but merely pauses the requirement to administer the program as the case proceeds.
“If [the plaintiff] were allowed to allege standing based upon its hypothetical or conjectural collateral injury, we would be opening the floodgates, allowing all lawyers to ‘roam the country in search of governmental wrongdoing,’“ the circuit court panel wrote, “We do not endorse the Department’s failure to open the lottery registration period. Nevertheless, [the plaintiff] 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 U.S. Department of Justice has filed criminal charges, as part of “Operation Protect the Vote,“ against green card holders in California who registered to vote and cast ballots illegally.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Secretary Rubio and State Department officials as they administer the green card registration process and review applicants.
- For federal judges as they hear and decide cases challenging the immigration enforcement policies of the president’s administration.
Sources: Newsweek, MSN, Fox News, Gateway Pundit, Department of Justice
