Degefa v. Mayorkas

1 Magistrate Judge S. Kate Vaughan

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE AYNALEM Z. DEGEFA, et al., Case No. C23-1870-SKV 10 Plaintiffs, STIPULATED MOTION TO HOLD CASE IN ABEYANCE AND 11 v. [PROPOSED] ORDER ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, et al., Noted for: January 18, 2024 13 Defendants.

15 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 May 29, 2024. Plaintiffs brought this litigation pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act and Mandamus Act seeking, inter alia, to compel U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) to schedule an interview and adjudicate their asylum application. Defendants’ response to the Complaint is currently due on February 12, 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 May 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. P. 1.

4 With additional time, this case may be resolved without the need of further judicial intervention. USCIS has scheduled Plaintiffs’ asylum interview for January 30, 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.

9 Plaintiffs will submit all supplemental documents and evidence, if any, to USCIS seven to ten days prior to the interview date. Plaintiffs recognize that failure to submit documents prior to the interview may require the interview to be rescheduled and the adjudication delayed. If needed, Plaintiffs will bring an interpreter to the interview, otherwise the interview will need to be rescheduled and the adjudication delayed. Once the application is adjudicated, Plaintiffs 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 Plaintiffs’ asylum interview and then process their asylum application.

17 As additional time is necessary for this to occur, the parties request that the Court hold the case in abeyance until May 29, 2024. The parties will submit a status update on or before April 1, 2024 (60 days post-interview).

20 // // // // Dated: January 18, 2024 Respectfully submitted, 2 TESSA M. GORMAN United States Attorney s/Michelle R. Lambert 4 MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS #4666657 Assistant United States Attorney 5 United States Attorney’s Office 1201 Pacific Avenue, Suite 700 6 Tacoma, Washington 98402 Phone: 253-428-3824 7 Email: [email protected] Attorneys for Defendants I certify that this memorandum contains 398 words, in 9 compliance with the Local Civil Rules.

10 s/ Jane Marie O’Sullivan JANE MARIE O’SULLIVAN WSBA#34486 11 O’Sullivan Law Office 2417 Pacific Avenue SE, 2nd Floor 12 Olympia, Washington 98501 Phone: 206-340-9980 13 Email: [email protected] Attorney for Plaintiff

1 [PROPOSED] ORDER The case is held in abeyance until May 29, 2024.1 The parties shall submit a status update on or before April 1, 2024. It is so ORDERED.

4 DATED this 23rd day of January, 2024.

6 A S. KATE VAUGHAN 7 United States Magistrate Judge

1 The parties should note, however, that the deadline to decline consent to proceed before a magistrate judge remains January 30, 2024. See Dkt. 9.