Verdes v. Garland

1 District Judge Benjamin H. Settle

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT TACOMA VICTORIA VERDES, Case No. 3:24-cv-05862-BHS Plaintiff, STIPULATED MOTION TO 11 v. HOLD CASE IN ABEYANCE AND ORDER MERRICK GARLAND, et al., Noted for Consideration: 13 Defendants. December 20, 2024 15 Pro Se Plaintiff and Defendants, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6 and Local Rules 7(d)(1), 10(g) and 16, jointly stipulate and move to stay these proceedings through April 28, 2025. Plaintiff brought this litigation pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act and Mandamus Act to compel U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) to adjudicate her asylum application. Defendants’ response to the Complaint is currently due on January 6, 2025. Good cause exists for this stay. The parties are currently working towards a resolution to this litigation.

21 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. USCIS has scheduled Plaintiff’s asylum interview for February 12, 2025. USCIS agrees to diligently work towards completing the adjudications within 75 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 adjudications delayed. Once the application is adjudicated, Plaintiff will dismiss the case. Accordingly, the parties request this abeyance to allow USCIS to conduct Plaintiff’s asylum interview and then process her asylum application.

15 As additional time is necessary for this to occur, the parties request that the Court hold the case in abeyance until April 28, 2025. The parties will submit a status update on or before April 28, 2025.

19 // // // 1 DATED this 20th day of December, 2024.

2 Respectfully submitted, 3 TESSA M. GORMAN United States Attorney s/ Michelle R. Lambert 5 MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS #4666657 Assistant United States Attorney 6 United States Attorney’s Office Western District of Washington 7 1201 Pacific Avenue, Suite 700 Tacoma, Washington 98402 8 Phone: (253) 428-3800 Fax: (253) 428-3826 9 Email: [email protected] 10 Attorneys for Defendants 11 I certify that this memorandum contains 358 words, in compliance with the Local Civil Rules 13 [See Next Page] VICTORIA VERDES 14 242 168th Street East Spanaway, Washington 98387 15 Phone: 425-365-8111 Email: [email protected] Pro Se Plaintiff

1 ORDER 2 The case is held in abeyance until April 28, 2025. The parties shall submit a status update on or before April 28, 2025. It is so ORDERED.

5 DATED this 20th day of December, 2024.

A 9 BENJAMIN H. SETTLE United States District Judge