Carmen Olivia Garcia et al. v. Secretary of Homeland Security et al.

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK -----------------------------------x

CARMEN OLIVIA GARCIA et al.,

Plaintiffs, MEMORANDUM & ORDER 23-CV-4795(EK) -against-

SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY et al.,

Defendants.

-----------------------------------x ERIC KOMITEE, United States District Judge: Plaintiffs have filed a belated response to the Court’s order to show cause and ask the Court for relief from its order dated February 13. This motion is denied. Contrary to plaintiffs’ contention, they abandoned their challenge to USCIS’s waiver procedures. Defendants moved to dismiss on the basis that the waiver procedures requiring the filing of a Form I-601 or I-601A are not “vague, ambiguous, or overbroad” or arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. ECF No. 21-1, at 21-24. Plaintiffs’ opposition, ECF No. 22, explicitly (and only) challenged the agency’s adjudication of their I-485 applications and did not respond to the government’s arguments concerning the waiver procedures. See Chamberlain v. City of White Plains, 986 F. Supp. 2d 363, 392 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) (“A court may, and generally will, deem a claim abandoned when a plaintiff fails to respond to a defendant’s arguments that the claim should be dismissed.”). The term “I- 601” appears only once, in passing, in plaintiffs’ brief. And as already made clear, this Court lacks jurisdiction to review the denial of an I-485 application. Xia v. Bondi, 137 F.4th 85,

93 (2d Cir. 2025). The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to enter judgment, dismissing this case without prejudice for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, and close this case.

SO ORDERED.

/s/ Eric Komitee ERIC KOMITEE United State

s District Judge

D ated: March 10, 2026 Brooklyn, New

Y ork