Ndungu v. United States Department of State

1 District Judge Thomas S. Zilly UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE JANE MUTHONI NDUNGU, et al., No. 2:23-cv-119-TSZ Plaintiffs, STIPULATED MOTION TO HOLD 10 CASE IN ABEYANCE AND v. [PROPOSED] ORDER UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF Noted for Consideration: STATE, et al., March 28, 2023 13 Defendants.

15 Plaintiffs brought this litigation pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act seeking, inter alia, to compel the State Department to adjudicate E.W.M.’s immigrant visa application. The parties are currently working diligently towards a resolution to this litigation. For good cause, the parties request that the Court hold the case in abeyance until May 1, 2023.

19 Courts have “broad discretion” to stay proceedings. Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 706 (1997). “[T]he power to stay proceedings is incidental to the power inherent in every court to control the disposition of the causes on its docket with economy of time and effort for itself, for counsel, and for litigants.” Landis v. N. Am. Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254 (1936); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 1.

1 With additional time, this case may be resolved without the need of further judicial intervention. A consular officer interviewed E.W.M. on March 20, 2023. The consular officer refused the visa application under § 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act because E.W.M.

4 required a current medical exam report. Plaintiffs report that the medical exam is scheduled for April 13, 2023. Once E.W.M. submits the required information, the consular officer can re- adjudicate the immigrant visa application. The parties agree that this case will be moot once the re- adjudication is conducted. To provide the time necessary to complete these steps, the parties request that this Court to hold the case in abeyance.

9 The parties request that the Court hold the case in abeyance until May 1, 2023. The parties will submit a joint status report on or before May 1, 2023.

11 // // // // // // // // // // // // // Dated: March 28, 2023 Respectfully submitted, 2 NICHOLAS W. BROWN United States Attorney s/Michelle R. Lambert 4 MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS #4666657 Assistant United States Attorney 5 United States Attorney’s Office 1201 Pacific Avenue, Suite 700 6 Tacoma, Washington 98402 Phone: 206-428-3824 7 Email: [email protected] 8 I certify that this memorandum contains 262 words, in compliance with the Local Civil Rules.

Attorneys for Defendants 11 s/Katherine H. Rich KATHERINE H. RICH WSBA#46881 12 Rich Immigration, PC 1207 N 200th Street, Suite 214B 13 Shoreline, Washington 98133 Phone: 206-853-4037 14 Email: [email protected] Attorney for Plaintiffs ] [PROPOSED] ORDER The case is held in abeyance until May 1, 2023. The parties shall submit a joint status report on or before May 1, 2023. It is so ORDERED.

4 DATED this 31st day of March , 2023. ‘ las 7 THOMASS.ZILLY United States District Judge STIPULATED MOTION FOR ABEYANCE -4 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY (23-cv-119-TSZ) ANN SrowapTr arpper @rrte 4990