UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SA YEDMOHAMMADREZA AMINJA V AHERI, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Case No. 1:21-cv-2246-RCL JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR, in his official capacity as President of the United States of America, et al., Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION Plaintiffs in this case are selectees from the diversity visa lottery for the 2021 fiscal year. By statute, their eligibility to receive a diversity visa will expire on September 30, 2021. But their applications for a diversity visa have not yet been adjudicated. So on July 2, 2021, plaintiffs filed the present lawsuit in the Northern District Of Illinois, hoping to secure their visas by the deadline or otherwise preserve their eligibility. ECF No. 1. In their complaint, plaintiffs accuse defendants-federal government entities who administer the diversity visa program---of unlawfully suspending diversity visa processing for part of the fiscal year and implementing COVID-19 guidance that unlawfully deprioritizes diversity visa adjudications. See ECF No. 1. On July 12, 2021, plaintiffs moved for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction. ECFNo. 7. On August 23, 2021 , the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted the government's motion to change venue and transferred this case to this district. ECF Nos. 22, 23, 24. The case was subsequently assigned to this Court. After the parties completed briefing on the plaintiffs' request for injunctive relief, the Court held a hearing on the present motion on September 22, 2021. 9/22/2021 Min. Entry. Upon consideration of the parties' filings, ECF Nos. 7, 7-1, 35, 3 7, 44, the arguments set forth at the hearing, the relevant legal authorities, and the record as a whole, the Court will DENY plaintiffs' motion for a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction. I. BACKGROUND A. The Diversity Visa Program A diversity visa is a type of immigrant visa under the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"). Each fiscal year, Congress reserves 55,000 diversity visas for randomly selected individuals from countries that are historically underrepresented in the United States' immigration process. See 8 U.S.C. § l 151(e), id. § 1153(c)(l). Millions enter a lottery for the chance to apply for one of the allocated visas. See Gjoci v. Dep 't of State, No. 21-cv-294 (RCL), 2021 WL 3912143, at *2 (D.D.C. Sept. 1, 2021). The winners of.this lottery, or ",selectees," submit required documentation to the Kentucky Consular Center ("KCC") to become eligible for a visa number, a device used by the State Department to ensure that it does not exceed the allocated number of visas. 22 C.F.R. §§ 42.33(f)- (g), 42.51-.55; 9 Foreign Affairs Manual ("FAM") 502.6-4(c)(2)(C), (d). The INA mandates that visa numbers are issued to diversity visa applicants "strictly in a random order." 8 U.S.C. § 1153(e)(2); see 22 C.F.R. § 42.54(2). So after receiving and reviewing all supporting documentation, and deeming the applicant "documentarily qualified," the KCC allocates visa numbers to selectees "who are within the applicable rank cut-off for that month." 9 FAM 502.6- 4( c)(2)(C). A selectee is only eligible to …
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