Yesterday, the US District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the complaint of plaintiffs, who had initiated a lawsuit against the State Department to reinstate their winning selections in the Diversity Visa-2012 Lottery. We respect the decision of the Court and we are grateful to the Court for the urgency that it treated this case.
However, we respectfully disagree with the Court’s analysis – the Court believes that the only way to obtain a random result here was the proper utilization of a computer randomization program. We believe that the purpose of Congress had been achieved by the first drawing – that the 22,000 individuals selected were chosen at random: with no manipulation of results, a level playing field, and no discrimination based on race, age, creed, or national origin. The end result is that the American government has lost credibility – promising 22,000 individuals the right to proceed with the immigration process and then snatching away that hope and promise. The State Department may have won in court, but it has lost the hearts and minds of 22,000 individuals from all around the world.