Barrows v. Schofer

1 District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE JENNIFER LYNN BARROWS, Case No. 2:24-cv-00598-RSM 10 Plaintiff, STIPULATED MOTION TO HOLD CASE IN ABEYANCE AND ORDER 11 v. Noted for Consideration: ANDREW SCHOFER, et al., July 9, 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 through August 23, 2024. Plaintiff brings this litigation pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act and Mandamus Act seeking, inter alia, to compel Defendants to complete processing of Plaintiff’s husband’s immigrant visa application.

20 Defendants’ response to the Complaint is currently due on July 9, 2024. For good cause, the parties request that the Court hold this case in abeyance through August 23, 2024.

22 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.

3 The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, has returned Plaintiff’s Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) with a recommendation that the petition be revoked. USCIS previously approved the petition in 2021 and that is the underlying basis for the immigrant visa application at issue here. The return of the petition is in process. However, Defendants cannot act on the visa application as the petition is now back with USCIS. The parties need time to confer and to determine next steps for this litigation.

10 Accordingly, the parties respectfully request that the instant action be stayed until August 23, 2024. The parties will submit a joint status report on or before August 23, 2024.

12 DATED this 9th day of July, 2024.

13 Respectfully submitted, TESSA M. GORMAN GOLDSTEIN IMMIGRATION LAWYERS United States Attorney s/ Michelle R. Lambert s/ Joshua L. Goldstein MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS #4666657 JOSHUA L. GOLDSTEIN, WSBA# 61773 Assistant United States Attorney 611 Wilshire Boulevard, Ste. 317 United States Attorney’s Office Los Angeles, California 90017 Western District of Washington Phone: (213) 425-1979 1201 Pacific Avenue, Suite 700 Email: [email protected] Tacoma, Washington 98402 Phone: (253) 428-3824 Attorney for Plaintiff Fax: (253) 428-3826 Email: [email protected] Attorneys for Defendants I certify that this memorandum contains 283 words, in compliance with the Local Civil Rules.

1 ORDER 2 The case is held in abeyance until August 23, 2024. The parties shall submit a joint status report on or before August 23, 2024. It is so ORDERED.

5 DATED this 16th day of July, 2024.

6 A RICARDO S. MARTINEZ 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE