Mandamus decisions / Eastern District of Pennsylvania
ALVAREZ v. RAUFER
Read the decisionOriginal on CourtListener
2,914 written decisions from 2,661 cases in the whole mandamus and agency-delay group, the group's newest decided October 30, 2026. Updated November 3, 2026 at 1:24 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 1,606 public decisions since January 1, 2025 that a CourtListener and GovInfo search for mandamus and agency delay finds, Passim holds 1,371 (85%), measured November 3, 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
Her application has been pending with USCIS for over four years, (Doc. No. 13 at 5; Doc. No. 1 ¶1; Doc. No. 12 at 1), and Plaintiff asserts that USCIS has neither scheduled her I-589 interview nor otherwise adjudicated her application, (Doc. No. 1 ¶¶1, 14). |
|---|---|
| Form or filing |
I-589 (asylum)
Read by a model
Plaintiff, a citizen of Venezuela, filed an I-589 application seeking asylum status in the United States. |
| What the suit asked for |
Decide the asylum application
Read by a model
to adjudicate her I-589 asylum application. |
| Kind of order |
A ruling on a motion or the petition
Read by a model
For the foregoing reasons, we grant Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment and Response in Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment and deny Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgement. |
| Motion decided |
Summary judgment
Read by a model
Presently before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgement and Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment and Response in Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment. |
| Whose motion |
Cross-motions
Read by a model
Presently before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgement and Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment and Response in Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment. |
| Disposition |
Granted in the government's favor
The principal motion was granted in full: summary judgment for either side, an injunction or TRO, a writ or order to act, fees. A motion to dismiss granted in full counts as Dismissed; a transfer is listed apart.
Read by a model
For the foregoing reasons, we grant Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment and Response in Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment and deny Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgement. |
| Prevailing party |
Government
Read by a model
For the foregoing reasons, we grant Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment and Response in Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment and deny Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgement. |
| The delay claim |
Relief denied
Read by a model
For the foregoing reasons, we grant Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment and Response in Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment and deny Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgement. |
| Months pending |
48 months from the application to the court's decision
Read by a model
Her application has been pending with USCIS for over four years, |
| TRAC factors | The court did not weigh the TRAC factors Read by a model |
| Threshold rulings | None Read by a model |
| Nationality |
Venezuela
Read by a model
Plaintiff, a citizen of Venezuela |
Other orders in this case
The group holds 2 decisions from this suit, oldest first. Outcome counts on these pages count the case once, by its latest decision, this one. How decisions are grouped into cases.
| Decision | Decided | Judge | Disposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALVAREZ v. RAUFER | March 12, 2020 | J. CURTIS JOYNER | Denied in the applicant's favor |
| ALVAREZ v. RAUFERThis decisionThe case's latest decision: its outcome is the one counted | September 1, 2020 | J. CURTIS JOYNER | Granted in the government's favor |
How the case ended
- Docket
- No. 2:19-cv-03155
- Filed
- July 19, 2019
- Ended
- September 1, 2020
- Suit's filing to its end
- 410 days
- How it ended
- Ended once the agency acted
- From the record
- idb disp 13 (dismissed: settled)
A voluntary or stipulated dismissal is how most suits end once the agency acts; the docket rarely says why. Other suits in this court.
Supreme Court and Third 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 3, 2026. Check the current status before relying on one.
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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
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Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers Union v. OSHA, 145 F.3d 120
Third Circuit, March 16, 1998. The Third Circuit weighs the TRAC factors in deciding whether to compel agency action that has been unreasonably delayed.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance. ImmCite has read the one published decision citing this case, as of 2026-11-03; it does not treat the case adversely. That describes that decision; it is not a determination that the case is good law.
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Geda v. Director, USCIS, 126 F.4th 835
Third Circuit, January 23, 2025. Section 1255(a) commits both the adjustment decision and the process and pace for reaching it to the Secretary's discretion, so § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) strips district courts of jurisdiction over challenges to USCIS's adjudication hold policy and § 1252(a)(2)(D) does not restore it.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance