Banafsheh Oveis v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, et al.

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA BANAFSHEH OVEIS, Case No.: 3:24-cv-01428-RBM-BJW 11 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING JOINT v. MOTION TO EXTEND STAY UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND [Doc. 10] IMMIGRATION SERVICES, et al., Defendants.

17 On September 17, 2024, the Court granted the Parties’ joint motion to stay. (Doc. 6.)

18 The Court further ordered that if the Petition was not dismissed voluntarily by October 22, 2025, the Parties were to file a joint status report on or before October 29, 2025. (Id.) Due to the lapse in federal appropriations, the Court reset those deadlines, ordering that if the Petition was not dismissed voluntarily by December 29, 2025, the Parties were to file a joint status report on or before January 5, 2026. (Doc. 9.)

23 On December 18, 2025, the Parties filed a Joint Motion to Extend Stay. (Doc. 10.)

24 They represent that they “continue to work towards an extrajudicial resolution,” but that the new United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) policy entitled “Policy Memorandum PM-602-0192, Hold and Review of all Pending Asylum Applications and all USCIS Benefit Applications Filed by Aliens from High Risk Countries” is affecting this case. (Id. at 2.) Therefore, “[w]ithout waiving Federal | Defendants’ rights to defend the causes of action and allegations,” the Parties jointly request that this litigation be stayed until March 30, 2026. (/d.)

3 The Court has “broad discretion to stay proceedings as an incident to its power to ||control its own docket.” Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 706 (1997). Granting a stay “is || appropriate when it serves the interests of judicial economy and efficiency.” Rivers v. Walt || Disney Co., 980 F. Supp. 1358, 1360 (C.D. Cal. 1997). A district court “may .. . find it is || efficient for its own docket and the fairest course for the parties to enter a stay of an action || before it, pending resolution of independent proceedings which bear upon the case.” Leyva 9 Certified Grocers of Cal., Ltd., 593 F.2d 857, 863 (9th Cir. 1979). That “rule applies || whether the separate proceedings are judicial, administrative, or arbitral in character... .”

11 at 863-64.

12 Based on the foregoing, the Joint Motion to Extend Stay (Doc. 10) is GRANTED.

13 || This litigation is STAYED until March 30, 2026. If Plaintiff's Petition is not dismissed || voluntarily on or before March 30, 2026, the Parties must FILE a joint status report on or || before April 6, 2026.

16 IT IS SO ORDERED.

17 || DATE: January 21, 2026 18 Brerminln, NA itterys > 19 HON. RUTH BERMUBEZ MONTENEGRO UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE