DIVERSITY VISA WINNERS LOSES PROLONG CASE AT THE FULL D.C. CIRCUIT
Introduction
A lot of people who won diversity visas in the 2020 and 2021 lotteries were left bummed out after their attempts to get green cards were shot down by a decision from the D.C. Circuit. This ruling stopped the U.S. Department of State from dealing with their visa applications that had expired.
Overview of the case history | Diversity Visa Lottery
The legal fight started under the Trump administration, just a few months before the State Department was supposed to hand out the thousands of diversity visas for the fiscal year 2020 lottery. The applicants pointed out the State Department’s slow handling of their applications during the COVID-19 pandemic, a complaint that was also made by those who won the lottery in the fiscal year 2021.
The court in Washington, D.C., sided with the lottery winners, telling the State Department to keep going with the green card process for their visas, which were set to expire at the end of their fiscal years.
But when the Biden administration asked to change the green card processing orders, a three-judge panel in the D.C. Circuit said no. They said the president’s power over foreign relations was the reason for their decision, saying that these kinds of issues are outside the courts’ job.
They also looked at U.S. Supreme Court cases to back up their decision, saying the courts don’t have the power to change the expiration dates of diversity visas.
The emphasis of the earlier panel’s decision and the applicants’ position
The decision by the panel was made with reliance on the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The panel’s position based on INA is that once it is past the official deadline, processing visa applications is not allowed, so the applicants can’t challenge it.
But, the applicants who won in the diversity visa lottery think this goes against what lawmakers had in mind. They point to a court case in June 2024, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, where the U.S. Supreme Court said it is up to the judges to sort out legal meanings, not the lawmakers.
Also, these lottery winners see a problem with what the U.S. Supreme Court said and what lower courts have decided. According to the lower courts, if you follow all the rules on filing for the lottery, you can still get some reliefs. But, the D.C. Circuit panel that made the decision said the previous Supreme Court case supports the idea that Congress hasn’t let the federal courts decide who gets citizenship. Also, the courts can’t move the deadline for diversity visas past the set time.
The full D.C. Circuit decision
The applicants tried to apply to the full D.C. Circuit to take another look at the June decision, but that didn’t happen. The applicants argued that Congress wanted the courts to be able to fix mistakes made by the executive branch.
However, the judges turned down the request to look into an earlier June decision that affected over 20,000 people picked for diversity visas in 2020 and 2021. They didn’t give a reason, which just added to the confusion.
How the applicants received the decision for Diversity Visa Lottery
Curtis Morrison, the lawyer for the visa winners, said this was a big let-down for his clients — a lot of hopeful immigrants, mostly from the Global South, who were trying to get into the US legally, only to have their dreams crushed by the Biden team. The Biden group asked the D.C. Circuit to check the lower court’s decision, which meant the State Department had to keep going with the green card process for the lottery winners, even though their visas had expired.
Morrison noted that it is a huge disappointment for the diversity visa winners, who had been working hard to get into the US legally, only to have their hopes dashed by the Biden administration.
The only comforting part of this loss is that people affected by the ruling could still join the diversity visa lottery for the fiscal year 2026, which starts in October.
To stay updated and informed, keep an eye out for our news section or drop your immigration queries for professional attorneys to reply on immigration question
