Congress has not revised American immigration laws comprehensively since 1990, and that efforts by subsequent administrations to revise the immigration system through executive orders are tied up in court battles.
Goodluck v. Biden combines two cases in which tens of thousands of people are fighting for immigrant visas that they were awarded in 2020 and 2021 under the diversity visa program. The visas expired before the winners could receive authorization to travel to the U.S. for reasons related to the pandemic.
The diversity visa program, commonly known as the green card lottery, is authorized under the Immigration Act of 1990 to increase the diversity among immigrants to the United States.
Visa lottery winners sued and eventually U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta ordered the Biden administration to reserve more than 7,000 expired diversity visas for the winners whose applications were not prioritized for processing after U.S. consulates reopened as the pandemic eased.
Immigration lawyer Curtis Morrison told that the federal courts have told the Biden administration it needs to correct the situation for these thousands of visa applicants and their families.
The Goodluck case is now in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Oral arguments took place in September after the Department of State appealed Mehta’s order. The diversity visa litigation can affect more than 30,000 people.
“The department believes the courts misinterpreted the law in finding that the department’s policies were unlawful and that the courts exceeded their authority in ordering the department to process and issue diversity visas beyond the statutory deadline,” according to the State Department’s website.
Lasts updates from the state government regarding the cases can be checked from here.
This article related to the diversity visa news has been taken reference from VOA news.
