Singh v. Lehman

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE 7 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE VARINDERPAL SINGH, Case No. 2:25-cv-00164-KKE 10 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED v. MOTION TO HOLD CASE IN 11 ABEYANCE DANIELLE LEHMAN, et al.,1 Defendants.

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 until September 22, 2025. Plaintiff brought this litigation pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act and Mandamus Act seeking, inter alia, to compel U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) to adjudicate his asylum application. Defendants’ response to the Complaint is currently due on April 7, 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 September 22, 2025.

23 1 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d), Defendants substitute Secretary Kristi Noem for David Pekoski, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director Kika Scott for Jennfer B. Higgins, and U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi for James McHenry.

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 May 22, 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. 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.

19 As additional time is necessary for this to occur, the parties request that the Court hold the case in abeyance until September 22, 2025. The parties will submit a status update on or before September 22, 2025.

22 // 23 DATED this 17th day of March, 2025.

1 Respectfully submitted, TEAL LUTHY MILLER SOLOW, HARTNETT & GALVAN, LLC Acting United States Attorney s/ Sean M. Arenson s/ Adam Solow SEAN M. ARENSON, WSBA No. 60465 ADAM SOLOW, PHV Solow, Hartnett & Galvan, LLC s/ Michelle R. Lambert 1601 Walnut Street, Ste 1200 MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS No.4666657 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102 Assistant United States Attorneys Phone: 215-330-5244 United States Attorney’s Office Email: [email protected] Western District of Washington Stewart Street, Suite 5220 Seattle, Washington 98101 NIMER LAW LLC Phone: (206) 553-7970 Fax: (206) 553-4067 s/ Jennifer Nimer Email: [email protected] JENNIFER NIMER, WA Bar # 61962 10 Nimer Law LLC Attorneys for Defendants 6500 Emerald Parkway, Suite 100 11 Dublin, Ohio 43016 I certify that this memorandum contains 391 Phone: 614-927-0550 words, in compliance with the Local Civil Rules. Email: [email protected] Attorneys for Plaintiff

1 ORDER 2 The case is held in abeyance until September 22, 2025. The parties shall submit a status update on or before September 22, 2025. It is so ORDERED.

5 DATED this 17th day of March, 2025.

A Kymberly K. Evanson 9 United States District Judge