Medina v. Miller

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Washington
DecidedDecember 21, 2023
Docket2:23-cv-00134
StatusUnknown

This text of Medina v. Miller (Medina v. Miller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Medina v. Miller, (E.D. Wash. 2023).

Opinion

U.S. DISTRICT COURT 1 EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON Dec 21, 2023 2 SEAN F. MCAVOY, CLERK 3

4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 5

6 SOTO et al., No. 1:23-cv-03016-EFS

7 BRITO et al., 1:23-cv-03038-EFS

8 VERA ESQUIVEL et al., 2:23-cv-00032-EFS

9 GARCIA et al., 2:23-cv-00047-EFS

10 BRAVO et al., 2:23-cv-00068-EFS

11 REYNA et al., 2:23-cv-00108-EFS

12 PINEDA RAMOS et al., 2:23-cv-00111-EFS

13 ZAMUDIO LEON et al., 2:23-cv-00117-EFS

14 MARTINEZ et al., 2:23-cv-00118-EFS

15 MORENO FRAIJO et al., 2:23-cv-00119-EFS

16 ZAVALA FIGUEROA et al., 2:23-cv-00122-EFS

17 PEREZ HERANDEZ et al., 2:23-cv-00124-EFS

18 CAMACHO CARRILLO et al., 2:23-cv-00125-EFS

19 BARAJAS GALVAN et al., 2:23-cv-00129-EFS

20 DIAZ-GODINEZ et al., 2:23-cv-00131-EFS

21 ROJAS et al., 2:23-cv-00132-EFS

22 PAMATZ VALENCIA et al., 2:23-cv-00133-EFS 1 MEDINA et al., 2:23-cv-00134-EFS

2 CANCINO VALDOVINOS et al., 2:23-cv-00135-EFS

3 FLORES LIMON et al., 2:23-cv-00137-EFS

4 MONTES et al., 2:23-cv-00138-EFS

5 LEYVA MORALES et al., 2:23-cv-00139-EFS

6 CASTREJON et al., 4:23-cv-05059-EFS

7 CHAVEZ MELLIN et al., 4:23-cv-05062-EFS

8 IBARRA DIAZ et al., 4:23-cv-05063-EFS

9 CALDERON et al., 4:23-cv-05064-EFS

10 ESCALERA MALDONADO et al., 4:23-cv-05066-EFS

11 RAMIREZ RIVERA et al., 4:23-cv-05067-EFS

12 JAYED et al., 4:23-cv-05069-EFS

13 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING 14 v. DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS AND DIRECTING ENTRY 15 OF JUDGMENT IN DEFENDANTS’ LOREN K. MILLER, Director, Nebraska FAVOR 16 Service Center, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, in his official 17 capacity as well as his successors and assigns; ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, 18 Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in his official 19 capacity as well as his successors and assigns; UR MENDOZA JADDOU, 20 Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, in her official 21 capacity as well as her successor and assigns; ANTONY J. BLINKEN, 22 Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State, in his official capacity as well as 1 his successors and assigns; PHILLIP SLATTERY, Director, National Visa 2 Center, U.S. Department of State, in his official capacity as well as his successors 3 and assigns; AND RICHARD C. VISEK, Acting Legal Adviser, U.S. Department 4 of State, in his official capacity as well as his successors and assigns, 5 Defendants. 6

7 Plaintiffs have waited years for the government to process their 8 applications—or their family member’s applications—for citizenship. Tired of 9 waiting, Plaintiffs filed these lawsuits. Plaintiffs’ frustration with the delay is 10 understandable. But as is explained below, Defendants are correct that the 11 judiciary lacks the power to direct them to act on the filed I-601A applications and 12 Plaintiffs’ claims relating to the DS-260 applications are premature. 13 I. BACKGROUND 14 A. Immigration Process 15 A foreign citizen seeking to live permanently in the United States requires an 16 immigrant visa.1 Here, each noncitizen-Plaintiff seeks an immigrant visa on the 17 grounds that they have a close family relationship with a U.S. citizen or lawful 18 permanent resident (LPR). 19

20 1 U.S. Dep’t of State, Family Immigration, 21 https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/family- 22 immigration.html (last visited Dec. 19, 2023). 1 To obtain an immigrant visa based on a close family relationship with a U.S. 2 citizen or LPR is a multi-step process.2 The first step under the Immigration and 3 Nationality Act (INA) is for the relative, who is a U.S. citizen or LPR, to file a 4 Petition for Alien Relative—using Form I-130—with USCIS on behalf of his or her 5 noncitizen family member to classify that noncitizen as an immigrant relative.3 6 Here, Plaintiffs satisfied this step: a Form I-130 petition was filed and fee paid to 7 classify the noncitizen as an immigrant relative. The Form I-130 petitions were 8 approved by USCIS.

9 If the “immigrant relative” desires to continue to reside in the United States 10 with their U.S. citizen/LPR family member during the immigration process, the 11 next step in the immigration process can involve the immigrant relative applying 12 for an I-601A Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver. The filing of the I-601A 13 application is a necessary step in the immigration process because, by remaining in 14 the United States, the noncitizen is at odds with other immigration laws. A

16 2 See 8 U.S.C. § 1202 (requiring the alien to be admissible to the United States for 17 permanent residence and eligible to receive an immigrant visa); 8 U.S.C. § 1255(a) 18 (directing that all applications for an immigrant visa be adjudicated by a consular 19 officer); U.S. Dept. of State Foreign Affairs Manual, 9 FAM 504.1-3(a)(2) (requiring, 20 subject to narrow exceptions, an immigrant visa applicant to appear for an 21 interview). 22 3 8 U.S.C. § 1154(a)(1)(A)(i). 1 noncitizen who has been unlawfully in the United States for more than 180 days is 2 deemed inadmissible for immigration benefits for a specified period of time 3 following their departure or removal from the United States—and as discussed 4 below, they must depart the United States as part of the process to obtain an 5 immigrant visa.4 So, noncitizens who remain in the United States with their U.S. 6 citizen/LPR family member for 180 days or more must seek relief from being 7 deemed inadmissible by filing an I-601A application with USCIS.5 To establish 8 eligibility for an I-601A waiver, the noncitizen “immigrant relative” must show that

9 they are “the spouse or son or daughter of a United States citizen or” LPR and that 10 refusing them entry “would result in extreme hardship to the citizen or lawfully 11 12 13 14

15 4 See id. § 1182(a)(9)(B)(i). This period of inadmissibility depends on how long the 16 noncitizen was unlawfully present: usually the period of inadmissibility is three 17 years if the noncitizen was present for less than a year, and ten years if the 18 noncitizen was present for a year or more. Id.; see also 8 C.F.R. § 212.7(e). 19 5 The statute refers to the Attorney General, but Congress transferred enforcement 20 of immigration laws to the Secretary of Homeland Security. Pub. L. No. 107-296, § 21 402, 116 Stat. 2135, 2178 (2002). For ease of reading, the Court refers to Homeland 22 Security as USCIS. 1 resident spouse or parent” of the noncitizen.6 The USCIS has “sole discretion” to 2 determine whether to grant an I-601A application for a waiver.7 3 If USCIS grants the I-601A application, the immigration-benefits process 4 moves to the next step, which involves filing an Immigrant Visa and Alien 5 Registration Application, DS-260, with the State Department.8 The State 6 Department’s National Visa Center (NVC) ensures that all fees have been paid and 7 that the required documents have been submitted. Once NVC determines the DS- 8 260 application is documentarily complete and a visa number is available, NVC

9 schedules an appointment for the noncitizen to appear for an interview at a U.S. 10 embassy or consulate.9 If the DS-260 is approved, the applicant receives by mail a 11

12 6 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(9)(B)(v). 13 7 Id. 14 8 8 U.S.C. §

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Medina v. Miller, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/medina-v-miller-waed-2023.