Judge Orders Reopening of Visa Lottery

An appointed judge is forcing the State Department to reopen

a green card

lottery program after it was paused because the suspected gunman

who

killed two Brown University students and an MIT professor last year

entered the US through it. Our senior foreign policy correspondent

Gillian Turner

is reporting live on this out of Washington. Hi, Gillian.

Hi, Sandra. One of the ways, uh, the Trump administration has really sought

to

crack down on immigration during the second term is by shuttering this

so-called diversity visa lottery.

But now a federal judge is ordering Secretary Rubio to open it

back up

to 55,000 foreigners every single year.

The judge writes in his ruling, take a look, "Defendant shall open the

registration period for the fiscal year 2027 diversity visa

program by midnight October 18th," that is Sunday, "and the

registration period shall last for 30 days." The State Department says, quote,

"Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Rubio, the Department of

State is putting American interests first in our visa

process."

Th- this program's been in place since 1990

for the purpose of offering

green cards to people from countries with very low rates of

immigration to the United States.

But in August, the State Department paused this program

in the wake of a

horrendous crime allegedly committed by a man in the US

courtesy of a diversity visa, citing concern that the,

quote, "visa process upholds the highest

standards for US national

security and public safety. This action is being taken in light of concerns raised

by the shooting at Brown University and the killing of an MIT

professor."

Here's the rub. Even experts who are generally supportive

of the diversity visa lottery in this country tell us the

program is flawed.