*** Transcript of hearing is NOW attached - 9-24th Hearing ***

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Can we ask USCIS to uphold atleast President Bush's claim that all cases will take only 6 months to adjudicate on a case as one of the relief measures ? If we add 6 months from 10/8 (expected day for case adjudication) that should still take care of a lot of cases that have been pending for a long long time. Worst case scenario, cases are still pending in April but the best thing that can come out of this is that, if USCIS keeps it's President's promise and our request for relief measures, a good % of us will have thei cases approved. If those conditions are not met, we have a better case for reopening our petition.

If the case is not adjudicated in our favor (I hope it does not occur) , what other options do we have ? Can we appeal this ruling ?

A question: In cases like these, will a request like I stated above be construed as a reason for us to settle for a 6 month delay? : that's what it'll turn out to be. If there is any iota of doubt that this may work against us, then I am all ready to take all or nothing. I am sure Mr.Khanna has other options that can be more benefitial than my suggestion.
 
Rajiv,
First I want to thank you for fighting for our cause inspite of not being in the best of health....

That being said, I noticed this on Page 25
18 "When the plaintiffs file, Mr. Khanna, it would be useful
19 for you to remind me, or if it's not already in your papers, in
20 your earlier papers, clarify for me what relief it is you're
21 seeking here for the plaintiff class."

is it possible for you to include as relief for 140 filers who haven't been approved (after waiting for more than 180 days since filing 485) to change jobs using AC21 on EAD?
Thanks
 
Rajiv,
I read the whole transcript ( i didn't read the transcript of the first hearing in June). You have argued brilliantly. From the judge's talk, i am damn sure that he has already decided to certify this case as class action. His concluding remarks are ample proof of his pre determination on this issue. He is now interested in what you are seeking as relief. Good job, and believe me, we are going to get the class certification.
 
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dsatish said:
Rajiv,
I read the whole transcript ( i didn't read the transcript of the first hearing in June). You have argued brilliantly. From the judge's talk, i am damn sure that he has already decided to certify this case as class action. His concluding remarks are ample proof of his pre determination on this issue. He is now interested in what you are seeking as relief. Good job, and believe me, we are going to get the class certification.

I felt the same thing too. This is a very positive development.

Rajiv has done a tremendous job. The judge is smart, and has definitely understood the predicament we are in, and unless he certifies us as a class, the government is going to hail this as a victory(for tardiness!). Rajiv has even managed to convey the problem created by the I-485 ready condition for I-140 adjudication, and the inability to use AC21.

Thanks Rajiv, may the force be with you. I am sure all the good wishes and prayers of the community members are there with you.

I also got the impression that the judge does not intend to drag this case further.
The best relief we can ask for is, and have been asking is:

6 months after I-485 application RD, if USCIS does not adjudicate the case and no hold up for security exists, USCIS should take responsibility for the delay and issue greencards.
 
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Thank you Rajiv. I've been using this forum for some time and I had no idea of the representation that you were doing. It was wonderful to read the case and to hear some our pain and frustration with the US immigration is being expressed. I thank you for your nobel and valliant effort.

In the case there was a mention that currently there are only 2 people in this class action. Do you need more people to join this class action. I certainly fit the demographic that you are depfending. Please shed some light on if it is possible to join this class action, and if it has any potential down-falls.

Thank you again.
 
Good job Rajiv,

I have some law background and I think the judge made the determination. Judge is sharp I must admit.He is going ahead with class certification. Good Job. Keep it up.
 
operations said:
Here is what happened. The judge has given us two weeks to submit additional briefs, if we want, addressing class action. The Court is ready to rule on our motion for class action.

I tried to get us more discovery, but the Court denied that. So, we are now working on the supplementary brief. Let us see what happens.

I will post the transcript of the hearing next week.


PS I had the flu, but I did not want to delay the hearing so I went in. In the middle of my argument, I could stand no more. The Court kindly permitted me to argue the rest of the case sitting down. The hearing lasted a little over an hour.


====================

PPS I have just received the transcript.

Attached



Sincere thanks to RAJIV. We would have really thanked Rajiv for his real selfless work only when we make sure that every person we know, we talk to him about his contribution trowards this lawsuit. We should let the community know and realise that leaders like Rajiv are around and there work deserve a pat from the community.
__________________
 
Why do the government lawyers keep bringing the 5 or 7 different types of 140? The case is about 485 applications and the government agreed in their deposition that all 485 applications are similar. Why can't it be a class lawsuit then?

They are trying to take the attention of judge away from the fact that the lawsuit is supposed to address the 485 delays which have been pending in VSC, NSC and TSC for so long even though FBI check takes only a few minutes.

Californians dont worry about AC21, 485 dates have moved forward in california. Other service centers are still in 2002. What an anamoly?
 
get well soon

Thanks Rajiv for the effort and fighting spirit for the battered community. Wishing for a speedy recovery.
 
I appreciate all your good wishes. Thank you.

As to whether or not our arguments were sharp or not, I think we did fine. Of course, your critical commentary is important; as important for us as your continued confidence in us.

The problem really is that this was supposed to be a status conference. Meaning: where we are in discovery, what else we need. Both the govt. and I were surprised with the turn things took. Fortunately, I prepare for everything when I go to Court. So, we did OK. I think the govt. lawyers were well prepared also - but not to argue the class action.

As to relief, that is the trickiest thing. Let us do a conefernce call after the Motion is decided. Win or lose, I can explain what was going on. This is an open forum, not a good place to discuss our thoughts and impressions in detail.

I have read each and every message. But i will not respond to each one, because I need to spend time elsewhere. Be cool, everyone.


PS Do NOT forget to read the cases etc. under "New Links" on this page: http://www.immigration.com/litigation/I-485_litigation.html
 
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can anyone tells what did Rajiv mean by "they have stopped tracking I485s"? They still publish I458 processing times. Any applicants can always count the days by themselves. The point should be not adjusticating I140 until I485 is ready defeats Ac21.

11 Recently they come to the memorandum. If I had a class

12 certified, I would have filed a motion against that memorandum

13 because that completely takes away any relief that Congress

14 could have granted. They have stopped adjudicating 485s or

15 tracking 485s for 180-day pendency, which is what triggers off

16 the relief under AC21.

17 So under AC21, after a 485 has been pending 180 days, I'm

18 entitled to switch jobs. They have stopped tracking I-485s.

19 That is something recent they've done. This is just one example

20 under ad hoc management of this program.
 
I read the entire transcript. I believe Rajiv has done a good job, However, I think we need to distinguish what our points really are: "no regulations, no guidence, random training" OR "delays". I think we have mixed these two points together, not to mention the meeting on Friday is to rule class certification. We need to convince the judge that this is indeed a class action by telling them that, for example, more than 90% I485 cases are not adjudicated until after three years. That's the commonality!

If we stick to the "no regulation, no guidence, random training" issue, we are not in a good position to win this case. We could file another class action on this particular "no regulation, no guidence" issue.


here are my suggestions:

1) focus on delays. DO NOT GET INTO CIS's ADMINISTRATION AND BUSINESS! Sticking on the traning manual did not make sense and did go beyond what this case is all about "I485 delays"

2) Obviously the judge wants to know what's the relief we are looking for. I suggest to have employment-based cases (I140/485) all adjudicate within six months, backtracking to all cases filed after Jan 1 2003 (just pick a reasonable date), as Bush administration has promised.
 
Think about this

whorl1quote said:
I read the entire transcript. I believe Rajiv has done a good job, However, I think we need to distinguish what our points really are: "no regulations, no guidence, random training" OR "delays". I think we have mixed these two points together, not to mention the meeting on Friday is to rule class certification. We need to convince the judge that this is indeed a class action by telling them that, for example, more than 90% I485 cases are not adjudicated until after three years. That's the commonality!

If we stick to the "no regulation, no guidence, random training" issue, we are not in a good position to win this case. We could file another class action on this particular "no regulation, no guidence" issue.


here are my suggestions:

1) focus on delays. DO NOT GET INTO CIS's ADMINISTRATION AND BUSINESS! Sticking on the traning manual did not make sense and did go beyond what this case is all about "I485 delays"

2) Obviously the judge wants to know what's the relief we are looking for. I suggest to have employment-based cases (I140/485) all adjudicate within six months, backtracking to all cases filed after Jan 1 2003 (just pick a reasonable date), as Bush administration has promised.

I cannot comment about this publicly. There is a reason for every word I have said.
 
Thank You very Much and get well soon

Thank you very much Rajiv, wish u good health and success.

I: 485
RD: 03/21/02
FP: 04/01/03
RFE regarding SR acknowledge by TSC 08/11/04
AD: Still waiting (44 days passed)

May be my AP story help u in ur case
AP filed on 12/03/03, transferred to Atlanta Local office on June 18, 2004, and then agian transfered back to TCS on September 7, 2004. Cancelled my plan to visit my family several time.
 
trytosurvive said:
We need to define our case more clearly: exactly what is the problem, exactly what we are after(not money of course!). And we need the statistic data about all the cases to prove the delay is unreasonable.
For example, we can ask them to produce data to show how many cases have waited 3 years, 2.5 years, 2 years, ....

Be careful, it can be very tricky, especially for the cases that were transferred to local offices.

For example, my case was filed in 03/2002. Transferred in 09/2003. The local office notified me in 04/2004. USCIS treats my case as 04/2004 case. It means that USCIS *thinks* that my case has just waitted for 5 months, though I initially filed this case more than 2.5 years ago.
 
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