SEATTLE — A federal judge in Seattle says he won’t issue an emergency order allowing tens of thousands of highly skilled immigrants to immediately apply to become permanent residents, as the government initially told them they could.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez ruled Wednesday that lawyers for the immigrants had not shown they were likely to win their case or that the order would be in the public interest.
The State Department initially said last month that certain categories of immigrants would be able to file their final green card paperwork beginning Oct. 1. Weeks later it severely curtailed who could apply, saying in court papers that it made a mistake on the initial notice.
The immigrants, who are mainly from China and India, said they spent thousands of dollars apiece to get their applications ready after the first notice came out.
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