Trump Admin Pushing for New Judge in Green Card Lawsuit, Lawyer Says

Newsweek

4 days ago

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The Trump administration's move to shift an immigration case involving foreign nationals to a new judge has resulted in new and urgent legal filings, a lawyer for the plaintiffs has told Newsweek.
Newsweek reached out to the State Department via email for comment.
Why It Matters
A number of Afghans who had assisted American forces following the United States' two-decade military presence in the region were provided Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) or Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Policy changes under the Trump administration, however, have resulted in the termination of TPS for some people, raising concerns about potential deportations.
The U.S. ended TPS for Afghans effective July 14, 2025, according to a Department of Homeland Security notice published in May. President Donald Trump has vowed to remove millions of migrants without legal status. This has left a number of foreign nationals unsure of their legal status. It translates to more than 9,000 people losing their protection from deportation and authorization to work, according to the International Rescue Committee.
The White House said in January that anyone living in the country unlawfully is considered to be a "criminal."
The U.S. Department of State building in Washington, D.C., on July 19, 2019.
The U.S. Department of State building in Washington, D.C., on July 19, 2019.
Getty Images
What To Know
On July 22, 102 nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Togo, Somalia, and Iran, including 55 Diversity Visa 2025 (DV-2025) program selectees and their 47 beneficiaries, filed a lawsuit challenging the lawfulness of Presidential Proclamation 10949, Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.
Plaintiffs challenged the travel ban under a nondelegation theory, as well as challenging the State Department's policy of treating an entry ban as a visa issuance ban—which lawyers for the plaintiffs claim is beyond the scope of the president's authority.
The case was assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who already is overseeing two other lawsuits where Iranian visa applicants are seeking leave to amend their complaints to also challenge the travel ban.
Chutkan, who has a past history with Trump due to her previously overseeing the president's federal election interference case, previously cited the aforementioned misinterpretation of law in a September 2021 opinion, Rai v Biden.
On Friday, Curtis Morrison told Newsweek that he, on behalf of the plaintiffs in the case Thein v. Trump that challenges the lawfulness of travel ban, filed motions for both expedited discovery and preliminary injunction—saying that the Trump administration "is desperately trying to get this case transferred away from Judge Chutkan, using the exact opposite logic they used in similar case before her in 2020."
The motion for preliminary injunction calls the defendants' actions delaying and withholding a proper adjudication of diversity visas "unlawful," and mandates that they "fulfill their nondiscretionary duty to process plaintiffs' immigrant visa applications; compel a proper adjudication of Plaintiffs' immigrant visa applications; and issue diversity visas to eligible plaintiffs before September 30, 2025, the end of fiscal year."
Time is of the essence, according to Morrison.
"The motion for preliminary injunction, that's necessary because we need a timely decision on whether or not the ban is lawful or not because for diversity visa applicants, their journey ends on September 30," Morrison said. "They don't get to immigrate if they don't overcome this ban by then, so that's why we're pushing for that.
"The motion for expedited discovery—basically, [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio has sent a cable to the embassies; this is the way they implement proclamations with guidance on how to implement it, and since we're alleging that that guidance was a misinterpretation of law and unlawful, we need that cable."
Morrison was an attorney who stood before Chutkan in a visa diversity lawsuit back in 2020, where the government argued that the case had to be taken from her and given to another judge who at the time was already handling cases regarding the government proclamation.
"The irony of that is now they're arguing the opposite, and they're saying just because she has other cases challenging the proclamation, they're different visa categories and so this case should get reassigned," Morrison said. "So, it's just obvious that it's not in good faith. They're just trying to get away from her because they know her view on this legal issue. ...We're on track right now to get an order that causes a serious problem with the implementation of the travel ban."
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump in his June 4 proclamation: "As President, I must act to protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people. I remain committed to engaging with those countries willing to cooperate to improve information-sharing and identity-management procedures, and to address both terrorism-related and public-safety risks. Nationals of some countries also pose significant risks of overstaying their visas in the United States, which increases burdens on immigration and law enforcement components of the United States, and often exacerbates other risks related to national security and public safety."
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on May 5: "Green cards and visas will be revoked if an alien breaks the law."
It said in a later post: "USCIS works alongside our @DHSgov and @StateDept partners each day to keep America, and Americans, safe. From designating foreign terrorist organizations to imposing sanctions, we're taking action to protect and secure our nation for your families, friends, and future."
Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, previously told Newsweek: "The Trump administration's decision to turn its back on our Afghan allies who risked their lives and the lives of their families to support American troops in Afghanistan is unconscionable."
What Happens Next
Morrison expects to receive a response next week of whether Chutkan will proceed in overseeing this case or not.