Gessess v. Mayorkas

District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE ROAH D. GESSESS and RAHEL TEFERI, No. 2:23-cv-551 11 Plaintiffs, STIPULATED MOTION TO HOLD CASE IN ABEYANCE AND ORDER 12 v. Noted for Consideration: ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, Secretary, June 12, 2023 Department of Homeland Security, UR JADDOU, Director, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, JOHN M. ALLEN, Director Texas Service Center, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, ANTONY J. BLINKEN, United States Secretary of State, RINA BITTER, United States Assistant Secretary of State, Consular Affairs, ANA ESCROGIMA, Consulate General, United States Consulate, Montreal, Canada United States Department of State, PHILLIP SLATTERY, Director of the National Visa Center, United States Department of State, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, and UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 25 Defendants.

Plaintiffs brought this litigation pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act seeking, inter alia, to compel the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) to adjudicate Plaintiffs’ Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, and, if approved, to compel USCIS to transmit the decision to the Department of State’s National Visa Center. Defendants have not yet responded to the complaint. For good cause, the parties request that the case be held in abeyance until August 29, 2023.

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. 12 P. 1.

On May 10, 2023, USCIS issued a Notice of Intent to Deny (“NOID”) Plaintiffs’ Form I- 130. They have until August 7, 2023, to respond to the NOID. If Plaintiffs respond to the NOID, USCIS will need to review the response and then continue processing.

17 As additional time is necessary for this to occur, the parties request that the Court hold the case in abeyance until August 29, 2023. The parties will submit a joint status report on or before August 29, 2023.

Dated: June 12, 2022 Respectfully submitted, 22 NICHOLAS W. BROWN United States Attorney s/Michelle R. Lambert MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS #4666657 25 Assistant United States Attorney United States Attorney’s Office 26 1201 Pacific Avenue, Suite 700 Tacoma, Washington 98402 Phone: 206-428-3824 Email: [email protected] 2 Attorneys for Defendants s/Bart Klein 4 BART KLEIN, WSBA #10909 1st Ave., Ste 500 Seattle, Washington 98104 6 Phone: 206-624-3787 Email: [email protected] 7 Attorney for Plaintiffs

ORDER The case is held in abeyance until August 29, 2023. The parties shall submit a joint status report on or before August 29, 2023. It is so ORDERED.

4 DATED this 23rd day of June, 2023.

A Jamal N. Whitehead 8 United States District Judge