Younis v. Lehman

1 Magistrate Judge Brian A. Tsuchida United States District Judge John C. Coughenour

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE BASMA KHAYRI YOUNIS, No. 2:23-cv-1901-BATJCC Plaintiff, STIPULATED MOTION TO HOLD 11 CASE IN ABEYANCE AND v. [PROPOSED] ORDER DANIELLE LEHMAN, et al., Noted for Consideration: 13 January 10, 2024 Defendant.

Plaintiff brought this litigation pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act seeking, inter alia, to compel the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) adjudicate her Form I- 589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal. Defendants’ response to the Complaint is currently due on February 16, 2024. The parties are currently working towards a resolution to this litigation. For good cause, the parties request that the Court hold the case in abeyance until June 26, 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.

3 With additional time, this case may be resolved without the need of further judicial intervention. Plaintiff has had two interviews already. USCIS has scheduled a third asylum re- interview for Plaintiff on February 27, 2024. USCIS agrees to diligently work towards completing the adjudication within 120 days of the interview, absent unforeseen or exceptional circumstances that would require additional time for adjudication. If the adjudication is not completed within that time, USCIS will provide a status report to the Court. Plaintiff will submit all supplemental documents and evidence, if any, to USCIS seven to ten days prior to the interview date. Plaintiff recognizes that failure to submit documents prior to the interview may require the interview to be rescheduled and the adjudication delayed. If needed, Plaintiff will bring an interpreter to the interview, otherwise the interview will need to be rescheduled and the adjudication delayed. Once the application is adjudicated, Plaintiff will dismiss the case with each party to bear their own litigation costs and attorneys’ fees. Accordingly, the parties request this abeyance to allow USCIS to conduct Plaintiff’s third asylum interview and then process her asylum application.

16 As additional time is necessary for this to occur, the parties request that the Court hold the case in abeyance until June 26, 2024. The parties will submit a joint status report on or before June 26, 2024.

19 // // // // // Dated: January 10, 2024 Respectfully submitted, 2 TESSA M. GORMAN Acting United States Attorney s/Michelle R. Lambert 4 MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS #4666657 Assistant United States Attorney 5 1201 Pacific Avenue, Suite 700 Tacoma, Washington 98402 6 Phone: 253-428-3824 Email: [email protected] 7 Attorneys for Defendants 8 I certify that this memorandum contains words, in compliance with the Local 9 Civil Rules.

10 s/ Devin T. Theriot-Orr DEVIN T. THERIOT-ORR, WSBA #33995 11 Open Sky Law, PLLC 20415 72nd Avenue S, Suite 110 12 Kent, Washington 98032 Phone: 206-962-5052 13 Email: [email protected] Attorneys for Plaintiff

1 [PROPOSED] ORDER The case is held in abeyance until June 26, 2024. The parties shall submit a joint status report on or before June 26, 2024. It is so ORDERED.

DATED this 16th day of January 2024.

5 A John C. Coughenour 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE