Mandamus decisions / Eastern District of California

Kastoun v. Noem et al

Eastern District of CaliforniaChristopher D. BakerDecided June 17, 2026No. 1:25-cv-01636

2,996 written decisions from 2,731 cases in the whole mandamus and agency-delay group, the group's newest decided November 12, 2026. Updated November 14, 2026 at 1:17 a.m. CT; the Passim connector counts the live collection, which can differ by the day's additions and retirements (which total to quote). Coverage: of the 1,617 public decisions since January 1, 2025 that a CourtListener and GovInfo search for mandamus and agency delay finds, Passim holds 1,406 (87%), 1,039 of them in this group, measured November 14, 2026. Some of what that search finds are not mandamus decisions. Tell us about a decision we're missing.

These are counts of past written decisions and dockets, not predictions of how any case will be decided. A distribution appears only when at least 5 decisions (or 5 dockets) are behind it; smaller groups are listed, not summarized. How it's counted.

What the decision decided

Each value cites the passage it was read from. Values read by a model were checked against that passage; values read by rule come from fixed text patterns. Read the decision before relying on either.

Agency	USCIS Read by a model Plaintiff therefore brings this action to compel USCIS to adjudicate his pending application as required by law.
Form or filing	I-485 (adjustment of status) Read by a model In July 2023, he filed and submitted a Form I-485 application for adjustment of status.
What the suit asked for	Decide the application Read by a model Plaintiff clarifies in his opposition to Defendants’ motion to dismiss that he seeks only adjudication of his pending I-485 application within a reasonable time, not for the Court to order USCIS to grant adjustment of status or issue a green card.
Kind of order	A ruling on a motion or the petition Read by a model Defendants’ motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint for lack of jurisdiction (Doc. 8) is DENIED;
Motion decided	Motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction Read by a model Accordingly, Defendants’ motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) will be denied.
Whose motion	The government's motion Read by a model Defendants’ motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint for lack of jurisdiction (Doc. 8) is DENIED;
Disposition	Government's motion denied; the case goes on The government's motion (to dismiss, or for summary judgment) was denied, so the case goes on. Counted as the applicant's ruling; a later decision in the case can still go either way. Read by a model Defendants’ motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint for lack of jurisdiction (Doc. 8) is DENIED;
Prevailing party	Applicant Read by a model Defendants’ motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint for lack of jurisdiction (Doc. 8) is DENIED;
The delay claim	The delay claim goes on Read by a model Defendants’ motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint for lack of jurisdiction (Doc. 8) is DENIED;
The other claims	The delay claim goes on Read by a model Defendants’ motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint for lack of jurisdiction (Doc. 8) is DENIED;
Months pending	28.4 months from the application to the suit; 35.1 months from the application to the court's decision Read by a model In July 2023, he filed and submitted a Form I-485 application for adjustment of status.
TRAC factors	The court did not weigh the TRAC factors Read by a model
Threshold rulings	Section 1252(a)(2)(B) bar rejected Read by a model § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) does not deprive the Court of jurisdiction over challenges to USCIS’s delay in adjudicating I-485 applications.
Nationality	Syria Read by a model Plaintiff is a citizen of Syria and resides in Ridgecrest, California.

How the case ended

Docket: No. 1:25-cv-01636
On the docket: This ruling (ECF 16), deciding the motion (ECF 8)
Filed: November 24, 2025
Ended: October 12, 2026
Suit's filing to its end: 322 days
How it ended: Ended once the agency acted
From the record: voluntary dismissal 2026-10-12

A voluntary or stipulated dismissal is how most suits end once the agency acts; the docket rarely says why. Other suits in this court.

The ruling's entry is the docket's one order or judgment entered the day of the decision, and the motion number is read from that entry's text. Both come from CourtListener's copy of the docket; check them there.

Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit authority

District decisions bind no one. On the questions this decision raises, the Supreme Court decisions and the circuit's published decisions listed here bind this court; a circuit disposition marked nonprecedential was not published as precedent and is persuasive only. ImmCite status as read November 14, 2026. Check the current status before relying on one.

Kucana v. Holder, 558 U.S. 233

Supreme Court, January 20, 2010. Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) bars review only of decisions whose discretionary character is specified by statute, not discretion the agency gives itself by regulation.

ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
Patel v. Garland, 596 U.S. 328

Supreme Court, May 16, 2022. Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(i) bars review of any judgment regarding the granting of the listed forms of relief, including the factual findings on which a denial of adjustment rests.

ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
Bouarfa v. Mayorkas, 604 U.S. 6

Supreme Court, December 10, 2024. Revoking an approved visa petition under § 1155 is a discretionary decision or action that § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) places beyond judicial review.

ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
Norton v. Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 542 U.S. 55

Supreme Court, June 14, 2004. Section 706(1) and mandamus reach only a discrete agency action that the agency is legally required to take, so a court cannot compel programmatic improvements or action the law leaves to agency discretion.

ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
Spencer Enterprises, Inc. v. United States, 345 F.3d 683

Ninth Circuit, September 17, 2003. Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) covers only discretion specified by statute, so denials of EB-5 investor petitions remain reviewable; the Tenth Circuit declined to follow it, but it binds in the Ninth.

ImmCite: caution, adverse or limiting treatment found. Disagreed with (dictum) in the Third Circuit by Oyenike Alaka v. Attorney General of the United States Secretary of Department of Homeland Security, 456 F.3d 88 (2006).
Vega v. USCIS, 65 F.4th 469

Ninth Circuit, April 14, 2023. If a statute makes a decision wholly discretionary, regulations or agency practice cannot make it reviewable or exempt it from § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii).

ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance. ImmCite has read all 2 published decisions citing this case, as of 2026-11-13; none treats it adversely. That describes those decisions; it is not a determination that the case is good law.
Independence Mining Co. v. Babbitt, 105 F.3d 502

Ninth Circuit, January 23, 1997. Mandamus and APA § 706(1) claims to compel delayed agency action are analyzed alike under the TRAC factors.

ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
Vaz v. Neal, 33 F.4th 1131

Ninth Circuit, May 9, 2022. Section 706(1) compels only a clear, mandatory and discrete duty that has been unreasonably delayed under TRAC, and the APA's prerequisites go to the merits while § 1331 supplies jurisdiction.

ImmCite: unchecked, treatment not confirmed yet, not evidence either way. ImmCite has found no published decision citing this case as of 2026-11-10; it checks for new citing decisions daily. That is not a determination that the case is good law. The citation index lists 145 other decisions citing it, none a Supreme Court, BIA or Attorney General precedent or a published circuit opinion; ImmCite's status does not review them.