Zhao v. Mayorkas

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE LI ZHAO, Case No. 2:24-cv-01894-JHC Plaintiff, STIPULATED MOTION TO HOLD 11 v. CASE IN ABEYANCE AND ORDER KRISTI NOEM, et al.,1 13 Defendants.

15 Pro se Plaintiff brought this litigation pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act and the Mandamus Act seeking, inter alia, to compel the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) to adjudicate their Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal. Defendants’ response to the Complaint is currently due on February 10, 2025. 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 August 8, 2025.

23 1 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d), Defendants substitute Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem for Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) Acting Director Jennifer B.

24 Higgins for Ur M. Jaddou and Acting U.S. Attorney General James McHenry for Merrick Garland.

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. 5 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 April 10, 2025. 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. 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 their asylum application.

20 As additional time is necessary for this to occur, the parties request that the Court hold the case in abeyance until August 8, 2025. The parties will submit a status update on or before August 8, 2025.

23 // // 1 DATED this 21st day of February, 2025.

2 Respectfully submitted, TEAL LUTHY MILLER Acting United States Attorney2 s/ Michelle R. Lambert See Attached Page for Signature[3] MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS #4666657 LI ZHAO, Pro Se Plaintiff Assistant United States Attorney 1710 S Bayview Street United States Attorney’s Office Seattle, WA 98144 Western District of Washington 1201 Pacific Avenue, Suite 700 Pro Se Plaintiff Tacoma, Washington 98402 Phone: (253) 428-3824 Fax: (253) 428-3826 Email: [email protected] Attorneys for Defendants I certify that this memorandum contains 378 words, in compliance with the Local Civil Rules.

23 2 Teal Luthy Miller became the Acting United States Attorney after Plaintiff executed their signature. When Plaintiff executed their signature, the United States Attorney was Tessa M. Gorman. [3 Attached to motion at Dkt. # 9.]

1 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 2 I hereby certify that I am an employee in the Office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington and of such age and discretion as to be competent to serve papers.

5 I further certify on today’s date, I electronically filed the foregoing and the following Notice to Withdraw Pending Motion with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/ECF system, which will send notice of such filing to the following CM/ECF participant(s): 8 - 0 - 9 I further certify on today’s date, I arranged for service of the foregoing on the following non-CM/ECF participant(s), via Certified Mail with return receipt, postage prepaid, addressed as follows: 12 Li Zhao¸ Pro Se Plaintiff 1710 S Bayview Street 13 Seattle, WA 98144 14 DATED this 21st day of February, 2025.

15 s/ Stephanie Huerta-Ramirez STEPHANIE HUERTA-RAMIREZ, Legal Assistant 16 United States Attorney’s Office Western District of Washington 17 700 Stewart Street, Suite 5220 Seattle, WA 98101 18 Phone: (206) 553-7970 Fax: (206) 553-4073 19 Email: [email protected]

1 ORDER 2 The case is held in abeyance until August 8, 2025. The parties shall submit a status |Jupdate on or before August 8, 2025. It is so ORDERED.

4 DATED this 21st day of February, 2025.

6 x / a ha Char OHN H. CHUN 7 United States District Judge 1]