Angeles v. Johnson

121 F. Supp. 3d 997, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102092, 2015 WL 4641817
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedAugust 4, 2015
DocketCase No. 13-cv-00008-BTM-RBB
StatusPublished

This text of 121 F. Supp. 3d 997 (Angeles v. Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Angeles v. Johnson, 121 F. Supp. 3d 997, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102092, 2015 WL 4641817 (C.D. Cal. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, AND DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

BARRY TED MOSKOWITZ, Chief Judge.

Presently pending before the Court are the parties’ cross motions for summary judgment in a matter arising under the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. §§ 701-706. The challenged agency action is Defendant’s, United States Citizenship , and Immigration Services (“USGIS” or the “Agency”), denial of Plaintiffs’, Nataly and Alan Angeles, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, Form 1-485, as derivative beneficiaries of a Petition for Alien Relative, Form 1-130, filed by their grandfather, Luis Herrera Angeles (“Luis”) ,.on behalf of their father, Demetrio Angeles Moran (“Demetrio”).

Having considered the parties oral argument and the record, the Court DENIES Defendant’s motion for summary judgment [Doc. 35], and GRANTS Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment [Doc. 34].

I. BACKGROUND

Luis immigrated to the United States from Mexico on October 5, 1976 under the then existing Western Hemisphere Program (‘WHP”), and was classified as an “SA-1” immigrant according to his Immigrant Visa [Doc. 313, at 16], Luis’s son, Demetrio, was born in Mexico in 1960 and resided there at the time of his father’s immigration [Doc. 35-2, at 2]. On June 7, Í977, after he became a legal permanent resident, Luis filed the Form 1130 in question on behalf of Demetrio, who was then a single minor. The Agency’s predecessor, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”), approved the Form I-I30 on August 27, 1977 [Doc, 34, at 2; Doc. 35-1, at 89]. On February 14, 1978, Demetrio was issued an Immigrant Visa by the United States Consulate in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, and entered the United States on February 15, 1978 [Doc. 35-2, at 2]. Demetrio’s visa shows that he was admitted with the -immigrant classification symbol “SA-1” from foreign state or other area “w/h” and was occupied as a. “student.” [Id.]. The visa also. had the box checked confirming that Demetrio was statutorily exempt from the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) § 212(a)(14), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(14), labor certification requirement, and included, the additional note: “1-130 Attached.” The meaning and implication of these symbols are at issue in this case. Additionally, the legal and factual questions of whether the Form 1-130 was the vehicle for Demetrio’s immigration remain disputed.

If the Form 1-130 is found to be unused and therefore still valid, Plaintiffs could qualify for adjustment of immigration status to permanent legal resident based on the intersection of INA § 245(i), 8 U.S.C. [1000]*1000§ 1255© with INA § 2040), 8 U.S.C. § 11540). INA § 245© allows certain “grandfathered” aliens who are in the United States illegally to adjust their status to lawful permanent resident under certain conditions, such as being the beneficiary of a qualifying Form 1-130. A “grandfathered” alien includes a spouse or child of a beneficiary of a Form 1-130 filed before April 30, 2001. 8 C.F.R. § 245.10(a). Plaintiffs are the children of a Form 1-130 beneficiary, Demetrio.1 Luis filed the Form 1-130 on Demetrio’s behalf in June of 1977, years before the April 30, 200Í cutoff date. The INA and its regulations do not place an expiration date on an approved Form 1-130 and 8 C.F.R. § 204.2(h)(1) confirms that an approved family-based Form 1-130 remains valid for the duration of the relationship to the qualifying beneficiary. Furthermore, INA § 2040) gives the USCIS discretion to consider an approved Form 1-130 to be valid for use by a surviving relative, such as Plaintiffs, despite the death of the qualifying beneficiary, here Demetrio. Defendant does not appear to challenge the application of INA § 2040) to this case. [See Doc. 35-1, at 10 n. 7].

Demetrio’s children, Plaintiffs Alan and Nataly Angeles, were born on September 20, 1990, and December 31, 1992,'respec-tively, in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico [Doc. 31-2, at 30-31; Doc. 30-2, at 26-27]. Luis was naturalized on July 8, 1994, at which time Demetrio remained’unmarried [Doc. 30-1, at 13; Doc. 31-2, at 59]. Demetrio passed away on October 11, 2009. [Doc. 31-2, at 56], According to their Forms 1-485, Alan and Nataly Angeles last entered the United States at or near the San Ysidro, California, port of entry in January 2006 and August 2007, respectively, without being admitted or paroled by immigration authorities [Doc. 30-1, at 30; Doc. 30-2, at 60; Doc. 31-2, at 8, 16].

The parties agree that if the Form 1-130 was used as the vehicle of Demetrio’s immigration, it is no longer available for use by Plaintiffs. However, if Demetrio’s immigration was based on his status as a child of a WHP immigrant, “following to join” his father under that program, then the Form 1-130 was not used. Plaintiffs maintain that the Form 1-130 remains approved and available for their use as a vehicle for immigration based on the combined effect of INA §§ 2040), '8 U.S.C. § 11540) and 245©, 8 U.S.C. § 1255©. Defendant questions whether the Plaintiffs can use the Form 1-130 even if it is found to be unused by Demetrio, since Plaintiffs were born after Demetrio immigrated [Doc 35-1, at p. 9 n. 6].2

II. LEGAL STANDARD

The APA allows for judicial review of any final agency actions. See 5 U.S.C. §§ 701-706. Executive agencies have expertise and experience in administering their statutes that no court can properly ignore. See Judulang v. Holder, [1001]*1001— U.S. -, 132 act. 476, 483, 181 L.Ed.2d 449 (2011). However, while courts generally defer to an. agency’s interpretation of the statute and .regulations it is charged with administrating,- this is not so when the interpretation is plainly erroneous or inconsistent with that statute or regulation. See Udall v. Tallman, 380 U.S. 1, 16-17, 85 S.Ct. 792, 13 L.Ed.2d 616 (1965). A court reviewing an administrative agency’s decision must decide relevant questions of law, interpret statutory provisions as necessary, and .set aside agency actions, findings, and conclusions that are (among other things) “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” 5 U.S.C. § 706(2).

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Bluebook (online)
121 F. Supp. 3d 997, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102092, 2015 WL 4641817, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/angeles-v-johnson-cacd-2015.