Li v. Department of Homeland Security

Opinion

District Judge Marsha J. Pechman

WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON

XU LI and BRIGHT LIFE Case No. 2:23-cv-01931-MJP STIPULATED MOTION TO HOLD Plaintiffs, CASE IN ABEYANCE AND v. [PROPOSED] ORDER KRISTI NOEM, et al., Noted for Consideration: July 21, 2025 Defendants. For good cause, Plaintiffs and Defendants, by and through their counsel of record, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6 and Local Rules 7(d)(1), 10(g) and 16, hereby jointly stipulate and move to continue to stay these proceedings through September 3, 2025. Plaintiffs bring this litigation pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act to challenge U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) denial of the Form I-140 filed on Plaintiff Xu Li’s behalf as erroneous, arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law. This case is currently stayed through July 22, 2025. Dkt. No. 24. Courts have “broad discretion” to stay proceedings. Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 706 (1997). “[T]he power to stay proceedings is incidental to the power inherent in every court to control the disposition of the causes on its docket with economy of time and effort for itself, for counsel, and for litigants.” Landis v. N. Am. Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254 (1936); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 1. The parties continue to work towards resolution of this litigation. As previously reported,

Plaintiffs withdrew their Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker, to cure deficiencies and refile a Form I-140. This has been delayed due to difficulties in obtaining records from overseas. Once the new Form I-140 is filed, USCIS will consider this new application separately from the Form I-140 at issue in this litigation. Once USCIS issues a decision, Plaintiffs agree to voluntarily dismiss this litigation. Plaintiffs require additional time to re-file the Form I-140. Therefore, the parties believe good cause exists to continue to stay this proceeding, to save the parties and the Court from spending unnecessary time and judicial resources on this matter. Accordingly, the parties jointly stipulate and request that the Court continue to stay these proceedings through September 3, 2025. The parties will submit a joint status report on or before September 3, 2025.

DATED this 21st day of July, 2025.

Respectfully submitted,

TEAL LUTHY MILLER CHUNG, MALHAS & MANTEL, PLLC Acting United States Attorney s/ Michelle R. Lambert s/ Dima N. Malhas MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS #4666657 DR. DIMA N. MALHAS, WSBA#44370 Assistant United States Attorney Chung, Malhas & Mantel, PLLC United States Attorney’s Office 1037 NE 65th Street, Ste. 80171 Western District of Washington Seattle, Washington 98115 1201 Pacific Avenue, Suite 700 Phone: 206-264-8999 Tacoma, Washington 98402 Email: dmalhas@cmmlawfim.com Phone: (206) 553-7970 Attorneys for Plaintiffs Fax: (206) 553-4067 Email: michelle.lambert@usdoj.gov Attorneys for Defendants I certify that this memorandum contains 311 words, in compliance with the Local Civil Rules. [PROPOSED] ORDER The Parties having stipulated and agreed, it is hereby ORDERED that this proceeding is stayed until September 3, 2025. The Parties shall file a joint status report on or before September

3, 2025. DATED this 22 day of July 2025.

A MARSHA J. PECHMAN United States District Judge