Boyanapalli v. Blinken

District Judge James L. Robart 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE PADMAJA BOYANAPALLI, et al., No. 2:23-cv-1259-JLR STIPULATED MOTION TO HOLD Plaintiffs, 11 CASE IN ABEYANCE AND v. [P_R__O_P_O_S_E_D_] ORDER ANTONY J. BLINKEN, et al., Noted for Consideration on: Defendants. November 27, 2023 15 Plaintiffs 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 for an additional 30 days. Plaintiffs bring this litigation pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act and Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) seeking, inter alia, (1) to compel the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) and the State Department to adjudicate their § 1154(l) request and complete processing their immigrant visa applications; and (2) to compel Defendants to produce all responsive documents to Plaintiffs’ FOIA requests. For good cause, the parties request that the Court hold this case in abeyance until December 29, 2023.

23 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. Since the last filing, USCIS approved Plaintiffs’ § 1154(l) request and informed Plaintiffs as previously agreed. Thereafter, USCIS notified the State Department of the adjudication. Although Plaintiffs have been seeking an adjudication on their visas for two and a half years, the Visa Bulletin reflects that the priority date for Plaintiffs' visa petition recently retrogressed. Defendants contend that Plaintiffs are not eligible for visa issuance because their priority dates are not current.

8 The parties are continuing to discuss how to proceed to either resolve the litigation or streamline any issues that may be litigated. Accordingly, the parties respectfully request that the instant action continue to be stayed until December 29, 2023. The parties will submit a joint status report on or before December 29, 2023.

12 Dated: November 27, 2023 Respectfully submitted, TESSA M. GORMAN 14 Acting United States Attorney 15 s/Michelle R. Lambert MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS #4666657 16 Assistant United States Attorney United States Attorney’s Office 1201 Pacific Avenue, Suite 700 18 Tacoma, Washington 98402 Phone: 253-428-3824 19 Email: [email protected] Attorneys for Defendants I certify that this memorandum contains words, in compliance with the Local 22 Civil Rules.

23 s/ Whitney C. Wootton WHITNEY C. WOOTTON, WSBA#54074 25 s/ Devin T. Theriot-Orr DEVIN T. THERIOT-ORR, WSBA #33995 26 Open Sky Law, PLLC 20415 72nd Ave S., Suite 110 27 Kent, WA 98032 Phone: 206-962-5052 Email: [email protected] 2 [email protected] Attorneys for Plaintiffs 1 [P_R_O__P_O__S_E_D_] ORDER The case is held in abeyance until December 29, 2023. The parties shall submit a joint status report on or before December 29, 2023. It is so ORDERED.

DATED this 27th day of November, 2023.

A 8 JAMES L. ROBART United States District Judge