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. [PROPOSED] ORDER ANTONY J. BLINKEN, et al., 13 Noted for Consideration on: Defendants. December 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 January 29, 2024.

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. 27 P. 1.

1 With additional time, this case may be resolved without the need of further judicial intervention. The upcoming Visa Bulletin for January 2024 shows that Plaintiffs’ priority dates will be earlier than the final action date as of January 1, 2024. This means that Plaintiffs’ case is current, and they may be eligible for visa issuance. The State Department has provided Plaintiffs with instructions on how to schedule their interviews at the U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai, India. It is anticipated that these interviews will be scheduled in January. Plaintiffs may renew their applications for their immigrant visas during their consular interviews. If the consular officer issues visas to Plaintiffs, the parties agree that this case will be dismissed.

9 Accordingly, the parties respectfully request that the instant action continue to be stayed until January 29, 2024. The parties will submit a joint status report on or before January 29, 2024.

11 Dated: December 27, 2023 Respectfully submitted, TESSA M. GORMAN 13 Acting United States Attorney 14 s/Michelle R. Lambert MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS #4666657 15 Assistant United States Attorney United States Attorney’s Office 1201 Pacific Avenue, Suite 700 17 Tacoma, Washington 98402 Phone: 253-428-3824 18 Email: [email protected] Attorneys for Defendants I certify that this memorandum contains words, in compliance with the Local 21 Civil Rules.

22 s/ Whitney C. Wootton WHITNEY C. WOOTTON, WSBA#54074 24 s/ Devin T. Theriot-Orr DEVIN T. THERIOT-ORR, WSBA #33995 25 Open Sky Law, PLLC 20415 72nd Ave S., Suite 110 26 Kent, WA 98032 Phone: 206-962-5052 Email: [email protected] [email protected] 2 Attorneys for Plaintiffs

[PROPOSED] ORDER 2 The case is held in abeyance until January 29, 2024. The parties shall submit a joint status report on or before January 29, 2024. It is so ORDERED.

DATED this 27th day of December, 2023.

6 A JAMES L. ROBART 8 United States District Judge