Habimana Kantengwa v. Mayorkas

1 District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE NAUSICAA MARIE-MADELEINE Case No. 2:24-cv-00327-KKE HABIMANA KANTENGWA, 11 Plaintiff, STIPULATED MOTION TO HOLD CASE IN ABEYANCE AND ORDER 12 v. ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, et al., 14 Defendants.

16 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 hold this case in abeyance until January 17, 2025. Plaintiff brought this litigation pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act and Mandamus 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 August 23, 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 January 17, 2025.

1 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.

6 With additional time, this case may be resolved without the need of further judicial intervention. USCIS has scheduled Plaintiff’s asylum interview for September 20, 2024.

8 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. After the interview, USCIS will need time to adjudicate Plaintiff’s asylum application. 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 her asylum application.

19 As additional time is necessary for this to occur, the parties request that the Court hold the case in abeyance until January 17, 2025. The parties will submit a joint status report on or before January 17, 2025.

22 // // // 1 DATED this 19th day of August, 2024.

2 Respectfully submitted, TESSA M. GORMAN LAW OF FIC E OF DAN IEL J. SMITH, PLLC United States Attorney s/ Michelle R. Lambert s/ Daniel J. Smith MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS #4666657 DANIEL J. SMITH, WSBA #30521 Assistant United States Attorney 145 NW 85th Street, Suite 103 United States Attorney’s Office Seattle, Washington 98117 Western District of Washington Phone: (206) 438-8720 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 392 words, in compliance with the Local Civil Rules.

1 ORDER 2 The Court GRANTS the parties’ stipulated motion (Dkt. No. 11) to hold this case in abeyance until January 17, 2025. The parties shall submit a joint status report on or before January 17, 2025.

6 DATED this 20th day of August, 2024.

A Kymberly K. Evanson 9 United States District Judge