Federal judge demands Sec Rubio reinstate Green Card Lotto—it was suspended after foreign gunman murdered 2 students, professor

A federal judge has ordered the US Department of State to reinstate its "Green Card Lottery" for 2027, also known as the diversity immigrant visa program. San Diego US District Court Judge Jinsook Ohta issued a prelimary injunction on Wednesday that will allow 55,000 foreigners to apply for permanent residency.

The Trump administration suspended the program last year following the mass shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island. The deceased gunman, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a Porteugese national who came to the US through the diversity visa lotto, killed two students and injured nine others before driving to Brookline, Massachusetts, to kill an MIT professor.

Judge Ohta, appointed by Joe Biden, ordered Secretary Rubio to reopen registration by midnight on Thursday, October 15, 2026. The regsitration period, Ohta said, must be open for at least 30 days.

"The announcement shall identify the opening and closing dates of the regsitration period, the website through which individuals may submit electionic entries, and the requirements for participating in the program," wrote Ohta. "Defendant shall further disseminate this information through the State Department's other customary public notification channels, including the Federal Register."
 

A California immigration law firm, Red Eagle Law, filed a complaint in August in the US District Court for the Southern District of California. Attorney Curtis Morrison had asked the Court to reopen the program for a 30-day period, arguing that the Trump administration was violating the law.

Morrison told Courthouse News he filed a motion to extend the registration time frame by two weeks to ensure compliance. Fox News' Bill Melugin reported that immigrants who come from countries with lower immigration rates to the US, such as Africa, have historically been selected in the lotto.