summary of recent victories(Jan)
The majority of courts court have expressed that APA requires adjudication be completed within a reasonable time frame. Ren v. Mueller, Case No. 6:07-cv-790-Orl-19DAB, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4300(M.D. Florida, January 20, 2008); Jiang v. Chertoff, Case No. 06-CV-2816-L(LSP), 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5908(S.D. Cal., Jan 20, 2008); Camerena v. Chertoff, Case No. 07 C 822, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3283(N.D. Illinois, January 16, 2008); Chen v. Chertoff, Case No. C 07-2816 MEJ, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4891(N.D. Cal., January 23, 2008); Kurdy v. Chertoff, Case No. 8:07CV225, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5730 (Dist. Nebraska, January 10, 2008); Mitova v. Chertoff, Case 07-2631, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91900(E.D. Pa, Dec. 13 2007); Xia v. Gonzalez, Case No. C07-728 MJP, 2008 U.S. Dist LEXIS 3273(W.D. Wash. January 15, 2008), Lindems v. Mukasey, Case No. 07C0476, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5021 (E.D. Wisc., Jan 16, 2008); Singh v. Riding, Case No. CV-F-07-1198 OWW/SMS, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3585 (E.D. Cal., January 16, 2008); Chao v. Gonzales, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 76257, 1007 WL 3022548 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 15, 2007); See also Clayton v. Chertoff, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 76514, 2007 WL 2904049 at *5 (N.D.Cal. Oct 01, 2007) (Defendants' argument would "eviscerate § 706(1) of the APA, which clearly gives the Court the power to 'compel agency action … unreasonably delayed.'). Plaintiff argues that the passage of time requires the government to demonstrate some evidence that he poses a national security risk. The Court should agree and adopt the framework suggested in Razaq v. Poulos, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 770, 2007 WL 61884 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 8, 2007). In order to prevail, a Plaintiff must first show that an amount of time has passed that is presumptively unreasonable. At that point, the burden shifts to the government to show "by competent evidence that speaks in detail to special circumstances and justifications, that a period that appears presumptively excessive is not unreasonable.
In cases asserting unreasonable delay by the USCIS in processing adjustment of status applications, many courts have noted that analysis of jurisdiction and relief under the Mandamus Act and the APA is coextensive. See Bondarenko v. Chertoff, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67143, at *32 (W.D.N.Y. Sept. 11, 2007) (gathering recent cases); see also Yu v. Brown, 36 F. Supp. 2d 922, 928 (D.N.M. 1999), Zhu v. Chertoff, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91089(W.D.Missouri, Dec 2007); Mocanu v. Mueller, No. 07-445, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2876(E.D. Pa. Jan. 11, 2008);
As recently concluded in Aslam v Mukasey, case number 07 cv 331, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5616, (E.D. Va., January 25, 2008), while rejecting the prior precedent in Safadi v Howard, 466 F. Supp. 2d 696 {E.D. Va. 2006), observed that the majority of district courts addressing the issue have found jurisdiction and granted relief.