Alemu v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

1 District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT TACOMA TEDLA YESHITILA ALEMU, Case No. 3:24-cv-05298-RSM 10 Plaintiff, STIPULATED MOTION TO HOLD CASE IN ABEYANCE AND ORDER 11 v. Noted for Consideration: UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND June 14, 2024 IMMIGRATION SERVICES, et al., Defendants.

15 Plaintiff and Defendants, 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 November 22, 2024. Plaintiff brought this litigation pursuant to the Mandamus Act and the Administrative Procedure Act seeking, inter alia, to compel the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) to adjudicate his Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal. Defendants’ response to the Complaint is currently due on June 25, 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 November 22, 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 Plaintiff’s asylum interview for July 25, 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 asylum interview and then process his asylum application.

17 As additional time is necessary for this to occur, the parties request that the Court hold the case in abeyance until November 22, 2024. The parties will submit a joint status report on or before November 22, 2024.

20 // // // // // 1 DATED this 14th day of June, 2024.

2 Respectfully submitted, TESSA M. GORMAN LAW OFFICE OF NICHOLAS POWER United States Attorney s/ Michelle R. Lambert s/ Nicholas Power MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS #4666657 NICHOLAS POWER, WSBA# 45972 Assistant United States Attorney 5040 Guard, Ste. 150 United States Attorney’s Office Friday Harbor, Washington 98250 Western District of Washington Phone: (360) 298-0464 1201 Pacific Avenue, Suite 700 Email: [email protected] Tacoma, Washington 98402 Phone: (253) 428-3824 Fax: (253) 428-3826 Email: [email protected] HACKING IMMIGRATION LAW, LLC Attorneys for Defendants s/ James O. Hacking, III I certify that this memorandum contains 395 JAMES O. HACKING, III*, MO # 46728 words, in compliance with the Local Civil 10121 Manchester Rd., Ste. A Rules. St. Louis, Missouri 63122 Phone: (314) 961-8200 13 Email: [email protected] *PHV Attorneys for Plaintiff

1 ORDER 2 The case is held in abeyance until November 22, 2024. The parties shall submit a joint status report on or before November 22, 2024. It is so ORDERED.

DATED this 17th day of June, 2024.

A 7 RICARDO S. MARTINEZ UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE