GistReel
A federal judge in California has ordered the Trump government through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to continue processing pending adjustment of status applications under the Fiscal Year 2026 Diversity Visa Program, after temporarily suspending a regulation that had suspended such cases.
On August 28, 2026, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued the order in the case *Medani, et al., v. Trump, et al.* (case number 26-cv-6332).
The court temporarily overturned Policy Memorandum PM-602-0193, which USCIS had issued to ensure that Diversity Visa applicants seeking to alter their status within the United States did not pose hazards to national security or public safety.
What the US court ordered?
The judge ordered USCIS to take all reasonable steps, “to the extent practicable and in good faith,” to restart routine adjudication of affected applications for the duration of the Diversity Visa fiscal year, without using the suspended memorandum.
The court also partially granted the plaintiffs’ request for class certification. The certified subclass includes “all selectees and derivative beneficiaries under the FY-2026 Diversity Visa Program who are subject to the USCIS DV Hold imposed by Policy Memorandum PM-602-0193.”
As litigation continues, hundreds of Diversity Visa winners and their families who are now in the United States may benefit from the verdict.
What is USCIS response?
USCIS said that it will execute the court’s order, but it made it clear that it does not accept the ruling.
The agency stated that it “strongly disagrees with the Court’s order but will follow its terms pending possible further judicial review,” indicating that the government may seek to fight or reverse the decision in a higher court.
The halted memorandum was put in place particularly to subject all Diversity Visa adjustment applicants to further scrutiny before their applications proceeded, which the agency justified as a required security step.
With the policy temporarily suspended, USCIS must handle those petitions under the standard adjudication framework that existed before PM-602-0193 was announced.
The case is still underway, and the court’s injunction only applies for the current Diversity Visa fiscal year while further litigation is ongoing.
Permanent Residence: Requirements for 2 Year Green Card Holders
The US government has sent an important reminder to foreigners holding a two-year Green Card, warning that failure to act by a particular date may result in them losing their permanent resident status entirely.
According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), conditional permanent residents are unable to renew their two-year Green Cards in the same way that regular cards can.