In a published per curiam order, the Ninth Circuit has granted the government's emergency motion for a stay pending appeal of a preliminary injunction that required the government to reopen registration for the fiscal year 2027 Diversity Visa Program. A San Diego immigration law firm that represents Diversity Visa selectees had sued, alleging the failure to open registration was arbitrary and capricious and unlawfully withheld agency action under the APA. The panel held that the government made a strong showing that the firm is not "arguably within the zone of interests" of the Diversity Visa statute, 8 U.S.C. § 1153(c), because its economic interest is not more than marginally related to the program's purpose of encouraging immigration from low-admission countries.
The court distinguished East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v. Trump, where the asylum statute expressly contemplated pro bono legal services, and CSL Plasma v. CBP, where the visa statute was meant to benefit American businesses. The panel stated that it does not endorse the government's failure to open the registration period, but that the firm had not shown a likelihood of success.
The full text of Red Eagle Law, L.C. v. Rubio can be found here: https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2026/10/29/26-6943.pdf