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Green Card lottery: Judge freezes reopening of Diversity Visa program for 2027. What happens next?

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Cite

Ghosh, P. (2026, October 30). Green Card lottery: Judge freezes reopening of Diversity Visa program for 2027. What happens next? Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/green-card-lottery-judge-freezes-reopening-of-diversity-visa-program-for-2027-what-happens-next/articleshow/135372933.cms

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Times of India · collected 2026-10-30 · by Poulomi Ghosh

Quick Summary

A three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked the order requiring the Trump administration to reopen the Diversity Visa lottery for 2027, preventing it from opening as scheduled on November 1. The decision comes after a lawsuit filed by immigration law firm Red Eagle Law in August 2026 challenged the State Department's failure to open the DV-2027 registration period. This legal action follows previous attempts to pause and then resume the program due to concerns over screening protocols, affecting individuals who were waiting for the lottery registration to begin. The future of the 2027 Diversity Visa lottery remains uncertain as further appeals are pending.
Written by AI on 2026-11-02, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In a significant legal ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California blocked a preliminary injunction that required the U.S. State Department to open the application period for the 2027 Diversity Visa lottery by November 1. The court's decision is seen as a victory for the Trump administration, which had previously delayed the program’s acceptance of new applications. A liberal-majority appeals court ruled against an immigration law firm, Red Eagle, which had sued on behalf of individuals seeking entry through the visa lottery process.

The Diversity Visa Program admits roughly 55,000 immigrants annually from low-immigration countries but faced challenges after a 2017 mass shooting at Brown University by a Portuguese national who was issued a diversity visa. The shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, killed two people and injured nine others before also being linked to the murder of an MIT professor days earlier.

The appeals court's decision follows several delays in the program’s implementation, including one ordered by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in November 2025 when he announced changes to the process. Despite this, Red Eagle has indicated it will continue with other legal challenges against the State Department for failing to carry out the DV-2027 registration as required.

Written for “Green Card Lottery Blocked” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but every quote it verified points right, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 118150: score contradicts its own evidence · logged 2026-11-02

Story

📰 Green Card Lottery Blocked
Politics · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Fox News
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 3 of 19 claims Outlet record 69/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
27
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
1 of 27 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
59/100
Times of India's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-02 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Times of India · 3898 article(s) · 3 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 3 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Poulomi Ghosh
95 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 46-year-old Simeswell Cyril, an Indian national, is now being held in Sydney immigration detention and will be facing deportation from the country because of his fraudulent compensation claim.
🔮 US President Donald Trump has agreed to grant an immediate visa to the mother of 15-year-old Javits Frimpong, who was fatally shot while walking to school in New York City's Bronx neighbourhood, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Saturday.
🔮 She would stop them for a few minutes as they travelled along the sidewalk carrying food orders.
🔮 Dozens of Afghan migrants detained in the United States are expected to be deported as early as next week, potentially including relatives of Afghans who worked alongside American military forces during the war in Afghanistan.
🔮 Soldiers with the 3rd Corps Sustainment Command and the 20th Engineer Brigade, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as well as religious support personnel like military chaplains, used diggers and excavators to see how effectively they could be used to help preserve bodies intact until they could be identified and repatriated to the US.
🔮 Viral dad Walt Z told the prankster that he was already running behind his schedule despite working nonstop, and while the influencer was making the prank video to get views that may translate into money, Walt has four children at home and a mortgage that he can't pay.
🔮 “I could tell you that we have had issues with sleep.
🔮 The temporary block means the Diversity Visa program, which is also known as the Green Card lottery, will not open by November 1.
🔮 "All 2% Indian Americans in Texas will vote for this guy, who doesn't hate them for just existing.
🔮 Detectives said their investigation led them to believe that Kaur “may have entered” the TID canal located east of the apartment complex.
Also by Poulomi Ghosh
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 95 articles by Poulomi Ghosh →

Topics

Circuit Court of Appeals India Red Eagle Law The State Department the Diversity Visa Program 2027

Subjects

The State Department ORG · 5× Department ORG · 2× India GPE · 2× Red Eagle Law ORG · 2× Trump PERSON · 2× Circuit Court of Appeals ORG · 1× Marco Rubio PERSON · 1× The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ORG · 1× the Diversity Visa Program 2027 ORG · 1× the State Department's ORG · 1×

Narrative

This review will address any vulnerabilities in the process to ensure the Department can adequately establish the identity of aliens who are selected through the DV entry lottery, establish the applicants’ visa eligibility, and ensure that they do not present a threat to national security or public safety," the State Department said.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-02
🔮 The temporary block means the Diversity Visa program, which is also known as the Green Card lottery, will not open by November 1.

Claims (27 extracted, 1 hedged)

A three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday blocked an order that required the Trump administration to reopen the Diversity Visa lottery. asserted
that → block → lottery
The temporary block means the Diversity Visa program, which is also known as the Green Card lottery, will not open by November 1. asserted
which → mean → November
The order came as the government requested an injunction staying the previous order, under which the program would have opened. asserted
program → come → which
This is another legal setback for the Diversity Visa Program 2027 but Red Eagle Law, the immigration law firm that filed the lawsuit against Secretary of Marco Rubio in August, said they would move forward with other litigation to challenge the State Department's failure to carry out the DV program. asserted
they → file → program
Timeline of what exactly happened December 2025: asserted
what → happen → ?
The Trump administration paused the Diversity Visa program August 2026: asserted
administration → pause → program
The State Department announced another pause on issuing diversity visas, following a court order that had ended the earlier pause. asserted
that → announce → pause
Immigration law firm Red Eagle Law sued the government over its failure to open DV-2027 registration. asserted
Law → sue → registration
A federal district judge ordered the State Department to reopen DV-2027 registration. asserted
judge → order → registration
The Trump administration appealed the ruling and sought to suspend the order. asserted
administration → appeal → order
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the government's request to temporarily suspend the lower court's order. asserted
Court → grant → order
The stay is a temporary one on the ground that the law firm did not have the legal right to bring the challenge. asserted
firm → bring → challenge
People who would be affected should approach the court as the Green Card lottery was created to encourage immigration from countries with low US immigration rates, not to generate business for immigration law firms. asserted
lottery → affect → firms
The judges also pointed out that the firm had not brought the case on behalf of any prospective lottery applicants. asserted
firm → point → applicants
Who will be affected? - Those who were waiting for the registration to open on November 1. asserted
registration → affect → November
So Indians do not come under this. asserted
Indians → come → this
What happens next? asserted
What → happen → ?
- The State Department is not required to open DV-2027 registration by November 1 because the appeals court has stayed that requirement. asserted
court → require → requirement
- The appeal against the district court's preliminary injunction is still pending. asserted
appeal → pende → injunction
- The future of the 2027 registration process remains uncertain. Does US want to stop Diversity Visa program? asserted
US → remain → program
Diversity Visa program admits 55,000 immigrants to the US annually from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the US. asserted
program → admit → US
The State Department said it was pausing the program as it was undertaking a review of the screening and vetting protocols. asserted
it → say → protocols
The Department of State is committed to ensuring that its visa process upholds the highest standards for US national security and public safety. asserted
process → commit → security
This action is being taken in light of concerns raised by the shooting at Brown University and killing of an MIT professor suspected to have been committed by an individual admitted to the United States through the DV program. asserted
action → take → program
This pause will allow the Department to undertake a review of the screening and vetting protocols in the DV program. asserted
Department → allow → program
This review will address any vulnerabilities in the process to ensure the Department can adequately establish the identity of aliens who are selected through the DV entry lottery, establish the applicants’ visa eligibility, and ensure that they do not present a threat to national security or public safety," the State Department said. asserted
Department → address → security
The department said they may conduct interviews but no Diversity Visa was being issued. uncertain
Visa → say → interviews
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