Sponsors (30)
The bill protects Diversity Visa applicants' access and increases transparency while trading away some executive speed and discretion to rapidly suspend the program, creating procedural and operational burdens that could complicate urgent national-security responses.
Diversity visa applicants and selectees (lottery winners) are less likely to lose their opportunity because the bill bars nationwide, indefinite program-wide suspensions and preserves the legal pathway for winners.
Authorities can address specific security risks by using case-by-case screening and short (≤60 day) suspensions instead of shutting down the entire program, allowing tailored security measures while keeping most lawful processing intact.
Requiring notice to Congress and publication in the Federal Register increases transparency and congressional oversight of suspension decisions, improving accountability when the executive limits DV processing.
The bill limits executive flexibility to rapidly enact program-wide suspensions in response to emergent national security or diplomatic crises, which could delay immediate protective actions.
Detailed public justification requirements for country/regional suspensions could force disclosure of sensitive evidence or constrain classified operational responses, complicating national-security work.
Increased congressional oversight and notice/publication procedures could slow administrative actions and add procedural burdens to visa processing, delaying routine operations.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Limits program-wide suspensions of the Diversity Visa Program, requires public and congressional notice for geographic suspensions, allows case-by-case screening, and permits only a 60-day emergency pause.
Official title: To protect the integrity of the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, prevent unauthorized program-wide suspension, ensure transparency and congressional oversight of executive action, and reaffirm congressional intent.
Introduced June 25, 2026 by Yvette Diane Clarke · Last progress June 25, 2026
Prohibits broad, program-wide suspensions or pauses to the Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) Program while preserving narrow, targeted actions for security and eligibility. It requires the Department of State and DHS to give advance public notice and brief key congressional committees before imposing country- or region-specific suspensions, allows case-by-case screening or denials, and permits only a short 60-day emergency pause with required congressional notice and automatic resumption after 60 days. The bill also requires public publication (with classified annexes allowed for committees), specifies the content required in notices, and protects individuals who already received diversity visas from losing eligibility because of a short suspension.