Court Ordered State Department to Reserve Unused Diversity Visa Numbers for Travel Ban Countries

September 29, 2017, the court in P.K. v. Tillerson (D.D.C.), filed on August 3, challenging the State Department’s policy of denying immigrant visas to winners of the diversity lottery-where those winners are nationals of countries affected by the travel ban. Granted alternative relief the plaintiffs sought: the court ordered the State Department to reserve any unused visa numbers for plaintiffs in the event that the Supreme Court finds the executive order unlawful. It is not clear what will happen in this case if the Supreme Court finds the travel ban appeals moot.