Budhathoki v. Department of Homeland Security

220 F. Supp. 3d 778, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146501, 2016 WL 7159125
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Texas
DecidedOctober 21, 2016
DocketCase No. A-16-CA-275-SS
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 220 F. Supp. 3d 778 (Budhathoki v. Department of Homeland Security) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Budhathoki v. Department of Homeland Security, 220 F. Supp. 3d 778, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146501, 2016 WL 7159125 (W.D. Tex. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER

SAM SPARKS, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE'

BE IT REMEMBERED on this day the Court reviewed the file in the above-styled cause, and specifically Defendants Department of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, Leon Rodriguez, and Mario Ortiz’s Motion to Dismiss [#22], Plaintiffs Deepak Bu-dhathoki, Clesmy E. Canales Gonzales, and Katharine Yurlieth Turcios-Perez’s Response [# 27] in opposition, Defendants’ Reply f# 30] in support, and Plaintiffs’ Sur-Reply [#35] ⅛ opposition. Having considered the documents, the governing law, and the case file as a whole, the.Court now enters the following opinion and orders GRANTING the motion.

Background

This is an administrative appeal under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). See 5 U.S.C. §§ 701-06. Plaintiffs appeal the denial of their “Special Immigrant Juvenile” (SIJ) petitions by Defendants Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Director of DHS Jeh Johnson, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services1 Leon Rodriguez, and U.S. Citizenship ahd Immigration Services District Director for San Antonio Mario Ortiz’s (collectively, USCÍS). Plaintiffs ask the Court to enter a declaratory judgment that the denial was “arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to applicable law,” and in excess of USCIS’s statutory jurisdiction and authority. See First Am. Compl. [# 21] ¶ 39; 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A), (C).

Congress created SIJ status under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990 (INA). See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(J). SIJ status is a form of immigration relief permitting non-citizen children to obtain lawful, permanent residency and, eventually, citizenship in the United States. Under the statute, a SIJ is defined as' an immigrant who is present in the United States—

(i) who has been declared dependent on a juvenile court located in the United States or whom such a court has legally committed to, or placed under the custody of, an agency or department of a State, or an individual or entity appointed by a State or juvenile court located in the United States, and whose reunification withT or both of the immigrant’s parents is not viable due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or a similar basis found under State law;
[782]*782(ii) for whom it has been determined in administrative or judicial proceedings that it would not be in the alien’s best interest to be returned to the alien’s or parent’s previous country of nationality or country of last habitual residence; and
(iii) in whose case the Secretary of Homeland Security consents to the grant.of special immigrant juvenile status, except that—
(I) no juvenile court has jurisdiction to determine the custody status or placement of an alien in the custody of the Secretary of Health and Human Services unless the Secretary of Health and Human Services specifically consents to such jurisdiction; and
(II) no natural parent or prior adoptive parent of any alien provided special immigrant status under this sub-paragraph shall thereafter, by virtue of such parentage, be accorded any right, privilege, or status under this chapter.

Id. USCIS’s regulations define “juvenile court” as “a court located in the United States having jurisdiction under State law to make judicial determinations about the custody and care of juveniles.” 8 C.F.R. § 204.11(a).

Thus, to obtain SIJ status, a juvenile must complete a two-step process. First, the juvenile must apply to a state “juvenile court” for a predicate order finding that:

(1) The juvenile is under the age of 21 and is unmarried;
(2) Reunification with one or both of the juvenile’s parents is not viable due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment or a similar basis under state law;
(3) It is not in the best interest of the juvenile to be returned to his parents’ previous country of nationality or last habitual residence;
(4) The juvenile is dependent on the state court or has been placed under the custody of an agency or an individual appointed by the court; and
(5) The state court has jurisdiction under state law to make judicial determinations about the custody and care of juveniles.

See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(J)(i), (ii); 8 C.F.R. § 204.11(a), (c), (d). Second, the juvenile must submit an application, which includes the state juvenile court order, to USCIS, demonstrating his statutory eligibility. The Secretary of Homeland Security, generally through USCIS’s directors, must consent to grant SIJ status for each applicant. See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(J)(iii).

Here, Plaintiffs filed Suits Affecting Parent-Child Relationship (SAPCR) with state courts in Texas. See Mot. Dismiss [# 22-1] Exs. B, D, E (SAPCR Orders). In each Plaintiffs’ case, the Texas courts made the following findings:

(1) Plaintiff is under the age of 21 and is unmarried;
(2) Plaintiff has been subjected to parental abandonment and neglect and reunification with one or both of Plaintiffs parents is not viable due to abandonment or neglect; and
(3) It is not in Plaintiffs interest to be returned to Plaintiffs country of national or last habitual residence.

See id. In addition, the Texas courts awarded Plaintiffs child support. Finally, the SACPR orders state the Texas courts retained continued jurisdiction over Plaintiffs until the orders were amended or one of the following conditions was met:

(a) [Plaintiff] reaches the age of 18 or graduates from high school, whichever occurs later;
(b) [Plaintiff] marries, dies, or is emancipated by court order; or
[783]*783(c) [Plaintiff] enlists in the armed forces of the United States and begins active service.

See id.

Following the entry of the SAPOR orders, Plaintiffs filed SIJ applications with USCIS. See First Am. Compl. [# 21] ¶ 1. The USCIS San Antonio Field Officer Director denied Plaintiffs’ applications “because the record lacks evidence that the SAPCR[s] included with [Plaintiffs’] SIJ petition[s] w[ere] issued pursuant to the court’s jurisdiction over [Plaintiffs] as [] juvenile[s].” Mot. Dismiss [# 22-1] Exs. A, C, F (Notices of Decision). Specifically, the Field Officer Director determined there was “insufficient evidence to conclude that the SAPCR was issued by a juvenile court making a care and custody determination of a juvenile.” Id. Plaintiffs appeal US-CIS’s denial of their applications under the APA. USCIS now moves to dismiss.

Analysis

I.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
220 F. Supp. 3d 778, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146501, 2016 WL 7159125, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/budhathoki-v-department-of-homeland-security-txwd-2016.