Margarito Godinez v. Jaddou

District Judge Tana Lin

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE MOISES MARGARITO GODINEZ, No. 2:23-cv-1267-TL 11 Plaintiff, STIPULATED MOTION TO HOLD CASE IN ABEYANCE AND 12 v. [PROPOSED] ORDER UR MENDOZA JADDOU, et al., Noted for Consideration on: 14 November 3, 2023 Defendants.

Plaintiff and Defendants, by and through their counsel of record, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6 and Local Rules 7(d)(1), 10(g) and 16, hereby jointly stipulate and move to stay these proceedings until February 28, 2024. Plaintiff brings this litigation pursuant to the Mandamus Act seeking, inter alia, to compel the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) to compel action on his Form I-918, Application for U Nonimmigrant Status, and Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. Defendants have not yet responded to the Complaint. For good cause, the parties request that the Court hold this case in abeyance until February 28, 2024.

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. 2 P. 1.

With additional time, this case may be resolved without the need of further judicial intervention. Today, USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (“RFE”) to Plaintiff. Plaintiff has until January 29, 2024, to respond to the RFE. Once USCIS receives this response, the agency can continue processing the applications. Accordingly, the parties respectfully request that the instant action be stayed until February 28, 2024. The parties will submit a joint status report on or before February 28, 2024.

Dated: November 3, 2023 Respectfully submitted, TESSA M. GORMAN 12 Acting United States Attorney 13 s/Michelle R. Lambert MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS #4666657 14 Assistant United States Attorney United States Attorney’s Office 1201 Pacific Avenue, Suite 700 16 Tacoma, Washington 98402 Phone: 206-428-3824 17 Email: [email protected] Attorneys for Defendants 19 I certify that this memorandum contains words, in compliance with the Local 20 Civil Rules.

21 s/Katherine H. Rich KATHERINE H. RICH, WSBA #46881 Rich Immigration PC 1207 N. 200th Street, Suite 214b Shoreline, Washington 98133 24 Phone: 206-853-4073 Email: [email protected] 25 Attorney for Plaintiff

2 [PROPOSED] ORDER 3 The case is HELD IN ABEYANCE until February 28, 2024. The parties SHALL SUBMIT a joint status report on or before February 28, 2024. IT IS SO ORDERED.

6 Dated this 6th day of November 2023.

A Tana Lin 9 United States District Judge