Hanieh Alsadat Hedayati, et al. v. Joseph B. Edlow

District Court, N.D. California·Decided July 7, 2026·No. 5:26-cv-04054·Unknown

Opinion

HANIEH ALSADAT HEDAYATI, et al., Case No. 26-cv-04054-VKD

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND Plaintiffs, DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY v. INJUNCTION AND DENYING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO STAY Defendant. Re: Dkt. Nos. 9, 22

In this immigration mandamus action, plaintiffs move for a preliminary injunction. See Dkt. Nos. 9, 17. Defendant Joseph B. Edlow, sued in his official capacity as the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), opposes that motion. Dkt. No. 15. The government separately moves to stay these proceedings in view of Dorcas Int’l Inst. of Rhode Island v. U.S. Citizenship & Immgr. Servs., — F. Supp. 3d —, No. 26-cv-132-JJM-PAS, 2026 WL 1622708 (D.R.I. June 5, 2026) and pending developments in that litigation. Dkt. No. 22. Plaintiffs oppose the government’s motion for a stay. Dkt. No. 23. On July 6, 2026, and at the Court’s direction, plaintiffs filed a supplemental chart containing information regarding the status of plaintiffs’ claims. Dkt. No. 29.1 Upon consideration of the moving and responding papers, as well as the oral arguments

1 Although the supplemental chart was intended to be a joint filing, plaintiffs advise that, due to plaintiffs’ counsel’s limited availability, the parties were unable to confer on a final version of the chart. Accordingly, plaintiffs state that the supplemental chart “is the best representation of the presented at the June 30, 2026 hearing, the Court grants in part and denies in part plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction and denies without prejudice the government’s motion to stay these proceedings.2 Plaintiffs are 137 foreign nationals of 15 countries, including Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Cote d’lvoire, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Syria, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen. Dkt. No. 1. On May 4, 2026, plaintiffs filed the present action for a writ of mandamus, claiming that USCIS has unreasonably delayed adjudication of their I-765 Applications for Employment Authorization (“I-765 applications”), based on USCIS’s December 2, 2025 Policy Memorandum (PM-602-0192) and January 1, 2026 Policy Memorandum (PM-602-0194) (collectively, “Policy Memoranda”). See Dkt. Nos. 1-3, 1-4. The Policy Memoranda placed an apparently indefinite hold on pending benefit applications from nationals of 39 countries designated as “high risk.” See id. Claiming that such withholding of adjudication is unlawful, plaintiffs filed the present action to enjoin the hold and to compel USCIS to adjudicate their I-765 applications. See Dkt. No. 1. Plaintiffs seek a writ of mandamus, 28 U.S.C. § 1361, and assert claims for violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. §§ 555, 706, as well as violation of the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. See id. Plaintiffs now move for preliminary injunctive relief, arguing that the adjudication of their I-765 applications is essential to their ability to work, maintain their nonimmigrant statuses, and sustain their livelihood in the United States. They seek an order (1) enjoining USCIS from applying the Policy Memoranda to their pending I-765 applications and (2) requiring USCIS to adjudicate their I-765 applications and “deliver Employment Authorization Documents to eligible plaintiffs within 30 days.” See Dkt. No. 9-5. The government opposes plaintiffs’ motion on several grounds, arguing that (1) the Court does not have jurisdiction over plaintiffs’ claims; (2) plaintiffs located outside this District are misjoined and should be dismissed due to improper venue; (3) plaintiffs’ motion improperly seeks the final relief sought in their complaint, namely a mandatory permanent injunction on the merits; and (4) plaintiffs have not established that they are entitled to preliminary injunctive relief in any event. On June 5, 2026, while the present motion for preliminary injunction was being briefed, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island issued an order vacating and setting aside the same Policy Memoranda at issue, finding that they violate the APA. See Dorcas Int’l Inst. of Rhode Island v. U.S. Citizenship & Immgr. Servs., — F. Supp. 3d —, No. 26-cv-132-JJM-PAS, 2026 WL 1622708 (D.R.I. June 5, 2026). Between June 12, 2026 and the June 30, 2026 hearing on their preliminary injunction motion, several plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their claims. See Dkt. Nos. 19-21, 25. At the motion hearing, plaintiffs’ counsel confirmed that those voluntary dismissals concern plaintiffs whose I-765 applications have been adjudicated, although he noted that some of the plaintiffs whose applications were approved had not yet received their employment authorization cards. See Dkt. No. 26. Additionally, at the motion hearing, the government’s counsel stated that USCIS adjudicated and approved 54 additional I-765 applications, such that only 74 of the original 137 plaintiffs still had pending applications. See id. Following the motion hearing, five more plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their claims. See Dkt. No. 28. According to the July 6, 2026 supplemental status chart, there are approximately 37 remaining plaintiffs who have pending I-765 applications that USCIS has not yet adjudicated. See Dkt. No. 29. An injunction is a matter of equitable discretion and is “an extraordinary remedy that may only be awarded upon a clear showing that the plaintiff is entitled to such relief.” Winter v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 22 (2008). Plaintiffs seeking preliminary injunctive relief must establish that (1) they are likely to succeed on the merits, (2) they are likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, (3) that the balance of equities tips in their favor, and (4) that an injunction is in the public interest. Id. at 20. If plaintiffs “can only show that there are serious questions going to the merits—a lesser showing than likelihood of success on [their] favor, and the other two Winter factors are satisfied.” Friends of the Wild Swan v. Weber, 767 F.3d 936, 942 (9th Cir. 2014) (quotation modified; citations omitted). A. Subject Matter Jurisdiction The government principally contends that plaintiffs challenge discretionary agency decisions that are shielded from judicial review under the Immigration and Nationality Act. See Dkt. No. 15 at 18-21.3 Specifically, the government argues that this Court’s review of plaintiffs’ claims is barred by 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii), which provides, in relevant part, that “no court shall have jurisdiction to review . . . any other decision or action of the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority for which is specified under this subchapter to be in the discretion of the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security . . ..” Additionally, the government argues that the Court lacks jurisdiction over plaintiffs’ APA claims because judicial review under the APA extends only to “final agency actions” that are “committed to agency discretion by law.” See Dkt. No. 15 at 21-23; see also 5 U.S.C. § 701(a)(1)-(2); 5 U.S.C. § 704. The government contends that the Policy Memoranda are not final agency actions, and that USCIS has not failed to comply with a mandatory duty

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Hanieh Alsadat Hedayati, et al. v. Joseph B. Edlow, (N.D. Cal. 2026).

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