Costa Soares v. United States Department of State

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedOctober 9, 2025
Docket6:24-cv-02153
StatusUnknown

This text of Costa Soares v. United States Department of State (Costa Soares v. United States Department of State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Costa Soares v. United States Department of State, (M.D. Fla. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA ORLANDO DIVISION

ANDRE LUIZ COSTA SOARES,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No: 6:24-cv-2153-JSS-RMN

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE, UNITED STATES CONSULATE GENERAL IN SAO PAULO, BRAZIL, MARCO RUBIO, and WILLIAM ASTILLERO,

Defendants. ___________________________________/ ORDER Defendants, the United States Department of State, the United States Consulate General in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and American Citizen Services Chief William Astillero, move to dismiss this case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. (Dkt. 42.) Plaintiff, Andre Luiz Costa Soares, proceeding pro se, opposes the motion, (Dkt. 45), and moves for preliminary injunctive relief, (Dkt. 46). Defendants oppose Plaintiff’s motion. (Dkt. 47; see Dkts. 50, 50-1.) On October 1, 2025, the court held an evidentiary hearing on the motions over Zoom. (See Dkt. 63.) Upon consideration, for the reasons outlined below, the court grants Defendants’ motion, denies Plaintiff’s motion, and dismisses this case without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. BACKGROUND In his complaint, Plaintiff alleges that although he was born and raised in Brazil,

he acquired United States citizenship at birth because his biological mother, Fawn Clark Taylor, was a United States citizen born and raised in the United States. (Dkt. 1 at 5; see Dkts. 1-1, 1-2 (Ms. Taylor’s birth certificate and school records).) Plaintiff further alleges that based on DNA results, a court in Brazil amended his birth certificate in January 2022 to add Ms. Taylor as his biological mother. (Dkt. 1 at 5–6;

see Dkts. 1-4 to 1-7.) According to Plaintiff, his birth certificate still lists the woman who raised him, Maria de Lourdes Costa Soares, as well, but it describes her as his social-affective mother rather than his biological mother. (Dkt. 1 at 5, 8.) Plaintiff claims that in April 2024, he visited the United States Consulate General in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to apply for a United States passport based on his United States citizenship,

and in July 2024, the consulate denied his application because “Plaintiff did not present satisfactory evidence of the required biological relationship between him and” Ms. Taylor. (Id. at 6–7.) Plaintiff reports that his April 2024 DNA specimen had been mislabeled “Alexandre” instead of “Andre.” (Id. at 7; see Dkt. 1-10 at 2.) The denial of Plaintiff’s passport application purportedly prompted him to domesticate the

Brazilian decree through a Florida state court in October 2024. (Dkt. 1 at 6; see Dkt. 1-8.) In November 2024, Plaintiff claims, he returned to the consulate with the domesticated decree to renew his passport application, and he interviewed with Mr. Astillero. (Dkt. 1 at 7.) Reportedly, during the interview, Mr. Astillero exhibited “rude and unprofessional conduct[]” and stated that he was “under no obligation” to accept or obey the decree. (Id.) According to Plaintiff, Mr. Astillero also indicated that the Board of Immigration Appeals had questioned a DNA result dated May 2, 2022, because Plaintiff did not look like the “person in the picture for the DNA test.”

(Id. at 8.) Plaintiff initiated this case in November 2024 with three counts against Defendants: violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) under 5 U.S.C. §§ 701–706 (count one), writ of mandamus under 28 U.S.C. § 1361 (count two), and preliminary injunctive relief (count three). (Dkt. 1 at 9–12.) Count one asserts that

under their own internal policies, Defendants cannot require Plaintiff to undergo additional DNA testing and that Defendants’ actions inquiring into Plaintiff’s DNA testing have been “arbitrary, capricious, in abuse of [their] discretionary powers, and . . . not in accordance with” the Immigration and Nationality Act. (Id. at 9.)

Count one further asserts that “Plaintiff has suffered and continues to suffer a legal wrong as a result of [the Department of State]’s unreasonable delay in approving [his] United States passport application [by] requiring him to undergo DNA tests again.” (Id. at 10.) Count two alleges that the Department of State owes Plaintiff a duty to issue him a United States passport given his automatic acquisition of United States

citizenship at birth through Ms. Taylor. (Id. at 10–11.) Count two asks the court to exercise its mandamus authority to compel the Department of State to fulfill this duty. (Id.) Count three seeks a temporary restraining order (TRO) or preliminary injunction to “prohibit Defendants from asking again for a DNA test” and to require Defendants to immediately issue Plaintiff an emergency United States passport. (Id. at 11.) In a prayer for relief after the counts, Plaintiff repeats the request for preliminary injunctive relief asserted in count three and asks that the court “[p]ermanently enjoin Defendants from causing [him] further harm . . . by ordering [the Department of State] to approve

[his] application for a United States passport.” (Id. at 13.) In June 2025, Defendants filed the instant motion to dismiss. (Dkt. 42.) In the motion, Defendants state that “[i]n 2023, Plaintiff filed petitions with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, alleging that he acquired citizenship through [Ms.] Taylor.” (Id. at 4.) Defendants report that the Ninth Circuit consolidated these proceedings and

transferred the action to the Central District of California (Soares v. Bondi, Case No: 5:24-cv-1276-TJH-PVC) for a de novo determination of Plaintiff’s citizenship. (Id.) A review of the docket shows that the California action is ongoing. Defendants also state that Plaintiff entered the United States in December 2014, failed to leave by his

December 25, 2015 deadline, was taken into the custody of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement in May 2019, and was removed from the United States to Brazil in September 2023. (Id. at 3, 5.) In response to Defendants’ motion, Plaintiff filed the instant motion for preliminary injunctive relief. (Dkt. 46.) In the motion, Plaintiff largely reiterates the allegations in his complaint and seeks the relief requested

through count three. (See id.) During the October 1, 2025 hearing on the motions, the parties made preliminary remarks, Plaintiff testified as the only witness, and the parties presented argument. The court permitted Plaintiff to testify in a narrative form given his pro se status. Plaintiff testified remotely from Brazil. During his testimony, he admitted twenty-one exhibits into evidence, including Ms. Taylor’s birth certificate and school records, the Brazilian decree and Florida domestication order, Plaintiff’s amended birth certificate, letters from Defendants regarding his citizenship claim, his father’s

marriage and death certificates, documents describing Defendants’ internal policies on DNA testing, Plaintiff’s new Brazilian identification and passport, Department of State regulation 22 C.F.R. § 51.60 on the denial and restriction of passports, and webpages from Defendants about authentication and United States citizenship and passports. (See Dkts. 57-1, 64.) Defendants objected to five proffered exhibits—four

affidavits, as well as an email from the DNA testing laboratory—on hearsay and authentication grounds. The court admitted the unobjected-to exhibits and invited Plaintiff to discuss the objected-to exhibits further, but Plaintiff did not argue against Defendants’ objections.

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