US judge lifts Diversity Visa suspensions

Washington, Aug 29 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) A US federal judge has temporarily vacated three Trump administration policies that halted Diversity Visa processing and immigrant-visa approvals for nationals of 75 countries, ordering immigration authorities to resume ordinary adjudication of affected applications.

US District Judge Edward J. Davila of the Northern District of California issued the preliminary injunction on Friday in Medani et al v. Trump et al, a class-action challenge brought by fiscal year 2026 Diversity Visa selectees and their families.

Davila granted part of the applicants’ motion for class certification and part of their request for a preliminary injunction. The order will remain in place while the litigation continues.

The court temporarily set aside a US Citizenship and Immigration Services hold on Diversity Visa adjustment-of-status applications, the State Department’s suspension of Diversity Visa issuances and its separate pause covering immigrant-visa applicants from 75 countries.

The State Department was ordered “to the extent practicable and in good faith” to take reasonable steps during the remainder of the Diversity Visa fiscal year to reconsider applications refused solely under the two State Department suspensions.

It must also resume the ordinary adjudication of pending Diversity Visa applications.

The court separately directed USCIS to resume processing pending adjustment-of-status applications without applying its Diversity Visa hold.

Davila certified three subclasses covering fiscal year 2026 Diversity Visa selectees and their derivative beneficiaries affected by each of the challenged policies.

The plaintiffs include 84 families in the United States whose adjustment applications were subject to the USCIS hold and 577 families outside the country whose cases were affected by the State Department’s Diversity Visa suspension.

Of the families going through consular processing, 444 were also affected by the 75-country immigrant-visa pause because of their nationality, according to the order.

The judge said the three policies effectively created a system under which no remaining fiscal year 2026 Diversity Visa selectee could obtain a visa.

“The Three Policies are ‘uniform’ and apply in the same way to all Diversity Visa applicants,” Davila wrote.

The first policy, issued by the Department of Homeland Security in December 2025, indefinitely halted final decisions on pending Diversity Visa adjustment applications filed with USCIS.

A State Department policy issued a day later paused all Diversity Visa issuances. Applicants could still be interviewed and found ineligible, but consular officers could not issue approved visas.

The third policy paused immigrant-visa approvals for nationals of 75 countries while the State Department developed new procedures to evaluate whether applicants could become dependent on public assistance in the United States.

The court found that the applicants were likely to succeed on their claim that the policies were arbitrary and capricious under federal administrative law.

Davila said there was no indication that the State Department or USCIS considered alternatives that could address the government’s concerns while allowing the congressionally established programme to continue operating.

The judge also found that the agencies had not adequately considered the reliance interests of applicants who spent substantial time and money completing visa requirements.

The government argued that the claimed injuries were speculative because selection under the Diversity Visa programme does not guarantee approval. It also contended that relief could place the plaintiffs ahead of other applicants.

Davila rejected those arguments, finding that the applicants faced the permanent loss of an immigration opportunity, along with lost employment, forfeited job offers, travel expenses and prolonged family separation.

The order does not require the government to approve any application. Immigration officers retain authority to assess individual eligibility and admissibility under existing law.

The Diversity Visa programme makes up to 55,000 immigrant visas available annually to people from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. Selection gives a person an opportunity to apply but does not guarantee permanent residence.

Fiscal year 2026 selectees generally remain eligible only until September 30. Davila ordered the parties to submit a joint status report by September 18 describing the progress of adjudications and proposing a schedule for the remaining litigation.

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