Mukankusi v. Noem

Opinion

1 District Judge Barbara J. Rothstein

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE

9 BERNADETTE MUKANKUSI, Case No. 2:25-cv-00479-BJR 10 Plaintiff, STIPULATED MOTION TO HOLD 11 v. CASE IN ABEYANCE AND ORDER

12 KRISTI NOEM, et al.,

13 Defendants.

14 15 For good cause, Plaintiff and Defendants, by and through their counsel of record, 16 pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6 and Local Rules 7(d)(1), 10(g) and 16, hereby 17 jointly stipulate and move to hold this case in abeyance until November 28, 2025. Plaintiff 18 brought this litigation pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act and Mandamus Act seeking, 19 inter alia, to compel the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) adjudicate her 20 Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal. Defendants’ response to 21 the Complaint is currently due on June 26, 2025. The parties are currently working towards a 22 resolution to this litigation. 23 Courts have “broad discretion” to stay proceedings. Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 706 24 (1997). “[T]he power to stay proceedings is incidental to the power inherent in every court to 1 control the disposition of the causes on its docket with economy of time and effort for itself, for 2 counsel, and for litigants.” Landis v. N. Am. Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254 (1936); see also Fed. R. Civ. 3 P. 1.

4 With additional time, this case may be resolved without the need of further judicial 5 intervention. USCIS has scheduled Plaintiff for an asylum reinterview on July 31, 2025. USCIS 6 agrees to diligently work towards completing the adjudication within 120 days of the interview, 7 absent unforeseen or exceptional circumstances that would require additional time for 8 adjudication. If the adjudication is not completed within that time, USCIS will provide a status 9 report to the Court. Plaintiff will submit all supplemental documents and evidence, if any, to 10 USCIS seven to ten days prior to the interview date. Plaintiff recognizes that failure to submit 11 documents prior to the interview may require the interview to be rescheduled and the 12 adjudication delayed. If needed, Plaintiff will bring an interpreter to the interview, otherwise the 13 interview will need to be rescheduled and the adjudication delayed. After the interview, USCIS

14 will need time to adjudicate Plaintiff’s asylum application. Once the application is adjudicated, 15 Plaintiff will dismiss the case with each party to bear their own litigation costs and attorneys’ 16 fees. Accordingly, the parties request this abeyance to allow USCIS to conduct Plaintiff’s 17 asylum interview and then process her asylum application. 18 As additional time is necessary for this to occur, the parties request that the Court hold 19 the case in abeyance until November 28, 2025. The parties will submit a joint status report on or 20 before November 28, 2025. 21 // 22 //

23 // 24 // 1 DATED this 13th day of June, 2025.

2 Respectfully submitted,

3 TEAL LUTHY MILLER Acting United States Attorney 4 s/ Michelle R. Lambert 5 MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS #4666657 Assistant United States Attorney 6 United States Attorney’s Office Western District of Washington 7 1201 Pacific Avenue, Suite 700 Tacoma, Washington 98402 8 Phone: 253-428-3800 Fax: 253-428-3826 9 Email: michelle.lambert@usdoj.gov

10 Attorneys for Defendants

11 I certify that this memorandum contains 401 words, in compliance with the Local Civil Rules. 12

13 s/ Tamunotonte Fenny TAMUNOTONTE FENNY, PHV 14 Jeelani Law Firm, PLC 3701 W. Algonquin Road, Suite 630 15 Rolling Meadows, Illinois 60008 Phone: 312-767-9030 16 Email: tonte@jeelani-law.com

17 s/ Adam Boyd ADAM BOYD WSBA# 49849 18 Gibbs Houston Pauw 1000 Second Avenue, Suite 1600 19 Seattle, Washington 98104-1003 Phone: 206-682-1080 20 Email: adam.boyd@ghp-law.net Attorneys for Plaintiff 21 22 23 24 1 ORDER 2 The case is held in abeyance until November 28, 2025. The parties shall submit a joint 3 ||status report on or before November 28, 2025. It is so ORDERED. 4 DATED this 13th day of June, 2025. 5 & Avera eu, Barbara Jacobs Rothstein 7 U.S. District Court Judge 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 STIPULATED MOTION FOR ABEYANCE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY AND ORDER 1201 PACIFIC AVE., STE. 700