Narambatla v. United States Department of Homeland Security

District Court, W.D. Washington·Decided April 17, 2024·No. 2:23-cv-01275·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT AT SEATTLE HARSHINI NARAMBATLA, et al., CASE NO. 2:23-cv-01275 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION TO v. DISMISS (DKT. # 13) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF

Defendant.

I INTRODUCTION This matter comes before the Court on Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). See Dkt. # 13. Plaintiffs are noncitizens1 who reside in the United States and whose immigration petitions were revoked by Defendant United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS seeks dismissal, arguing that Plaintiffs lack 1 The Court uses the term “noncitizen” as equivalent to the statutory term “alien.” See, e.g., Nasrallah v. Barr, 140 S. Ct. 1683, 1689 n.2 (2020) (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(3)). ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION TO DISMISS (DKT. # 13) - 1 standing to assert their claim.2 See Dkt. ## 13, 19. Plaintiffs’ alleged injuries are cognizable, fairly traceable to DHS, and a favorable decision from the Court is likely to redress the alleged injuries. The Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part the motion. See Dkt. # 13. II The Immigration Act of 1990 created the H-1B visa, which allows an employer in the United States to hire a noncitizen to fill a “specialty occupation” based on a “petition of the importing employer.” See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(B), 1184(c)(1). Employers must show that (1) the job they wish to fill requires a highly specialized body of knowledge and a bachelor’s or higher degree in a specific specialty, and that (2) the prospective employee has this requisite degree and knowledge. 8 U.S.C. § 1184(g), (i). There is a limit to the number of H-1B petitions considered by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)3 per year, with a statutory “cap” of 65,000 visas and an additional 20,000 for noncitizens who have earned a master’s or higher degree from a United States institution of higher learning, totaling a per year allocation of 85,000 H-1B visas or grants of status. See 8 U.S.C. § 1184(g). Because the demand for H-1B status exceeds the statutory

2 As discussed below, during the course of briefing, Plaintiffs conceded that their first three causes of action are now “moot.” Dkt. # 18 at 7. DHS responds that “mootness is not the appropriate framework for viewing these claims because there never was a live case or controversy here.” Dkt. # 19 at 6. Despite the disagreement, because the parties agree that these three claims should be dismissed, this order does so and provides analysis about only the one remaining claim. 3 The Homeland Security Act of 2002 made DHS a parent agency of USCIS. See 6 U.S.C § 101, et seq. Both agencies have the authority to adjudicate and label a noncitizen as inadmissible and construe statutory grounds of inadmissibility. 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a). The parties do not dispute that the acts of USCIS are imputed to its parent agency DHS. ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION TO DISMISS (DKT. # 13) - 2 cap, DHS regulations provide rules for the administration of the H-1B cap selection process, commonly known as the “lottery.” See 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(8)(iii); Dkt. # 13-1 at 2 ¶ 4. An employer petitioner must first register for the H-1B cap lottery and be selected and given a “cap number” for a beneficiary-employee, before they are eligible to submit a Form I-129 (Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker) to USCIS on behalf of the beneficiary. 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(8)(iii). In the Form I-129, petitioning employers must show that they are eligible for the requested benefit at the time of filing and must remain eligible through adjudication. 8 C.F.R. 103.2(b)(8). “USCIS will approve the request only if the evidence of record establishes both eligibility” and that the “petitioner or applicant warrants a favorable exercise of discretion.” Id. USCIS may make a “request for evidence” or issue “a notice of intent to deny” to the “applicant or petitioner[.]” 8 C.F.R. 103.2(b)(8)(iv). Such a notice “will specify the type of evidence required, and whether initial evidence or additional evidence is required, or the bases for the proposed denial sufficient to give the applicant or petitioner adequate notice and sufficient information to respond.” Id. USCIS may deny a benefit request when an applicant or petitioner’s responsive evidence does not establish eligibility. 8 C.F.R. 103.2(b)(12). If the petitioner or applicant fails to respond to a request for evidence or notice of intent to deny by the required date, the benefit request may be summarily denied as abandoned or based on the record. 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(13). USCIS may also send a notice of intent to revoke (NOIR) to a petitioner if it finds the application contains fraud or misrepresents a material fact. 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(11)(iii)(A)(2). The notice must contain a detailed statement of the grounds for revocation and a time period that allows for the petitioner’s rebuttal. 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(11)(iii)(B). ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION TO DISMISS (DKT. # 13) - 3 If USCIS believes that related entities (such as a parent company, subsidiary, or affiliate) may not have a legitimate business need to file more than one H-1B petition on behalf of the same [noncitizen] . . . USCIS may issue a request for additional evidence or notice of intent to deny, or notice of intent to revoke each petition. If any of the related entities fail to demonstrate a legitimate business need to file an H-1B petition on behalf of the same [noncitizen], all petitions filed on that [noncitizen’s] behalf by the related entities will be denied or revoked. 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(2)(i)(G). The employer may submit evidence in rebuttal within 30 days of receipt of the notice. 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(11)(iii)(B). The denial or revocation of a petition may be appealed, but an automatic revocation may not be appealed. 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(12). Once a petition is revoked, the visa and cap number are also revoked. See 8 U.S.C. § 1184(g)(3). Plaintiffs are 10 citizens of India who reside in the United States. Dkt. # 8 at 2–3 ¶¶ 1– 10. They allege that they were beneficiaries o

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