California law firm denied bid to restart 2027 Green Card lottery

A federal judge in San Diego denied Red Eagle Law's request to force the State Department to run the 2027 Green Card lottery before October registration, citing timing problems rather than ruling on the merits. The firm argued the Trump administration is quietly skipping the 2027 allotment entirely, moving straight to 2028, after suspending the diversity visa program following shootings linked to a past recipient.

Judge Jinsook Ohta expressed doubt she had authority to order a do-over, telling the firm's attorney that any fix would arrive on 'the later train.' The Justice Department argued the firm lacks standing since its interest in billing clients isn't protected by the underlying statute, and that it waited too long to sue anyway. Ohta will consider a preliminary injunction before the end of September, a deadline that may decide whether the case survives at all.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.