Mandamus decisions / District of Minnesota
Al-Rifahe v. Mayorkas
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
USCIS has neither granted nor denied plaintiff's application to date. |
|---|---|
| Form or filing |
I-485 (adjustment of status)
Read by a model
On March 3, 1998, he filed an I-485 application to adjust his status to LPR, that of a "green card" holder. |
| What the suit asked for |
Decide the application
Read by a model
to compel the disposition of his I-485 application seeking lawful permanent residency ("LPR"). |
| Kind of order |
A ruling on a motion or the petition
Read by a model
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT |
| Motion decided |
Motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction; Summary judgment
Read by a model
defendants' Motion to Dismiss or, in the Alternative, Motion for Summary Judgment [Docket No. 5] is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part as follows: |
| Whose motion |
The government's motion
Read by a model
The government has moved to dismiss the action or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. |
| Disposition |
Dismissed in part; some claims go on
The government's motion to dismiss was granted in part: some claims were dismissed and others go on.
Read by a model
2. The motion is DENIED in all other regards. |
| Prevailing party |
Each side in part
Read by a model
2. The motion is DENIED in all other regards. |
| The delay claim |
The delay claim goes on
Read by a model
2. The motion is DENIED in all other regards. |
| The other claims |
The delay claim goes on
Read by a model
2. The motion is DENIED in all other regards. |
| Months pending |
146.3 months from the application to the suit
The agency acted before this decision, so the months up to the decision are not a delay and are not shown.
Read by a model
On March 3, 1998, he filed an I-485 application to adjust his status to LPR, that of a "green card" holder. |
| TRAC factors |
The court weighed the TRAC factors
However, the Court "cannot ignore the agency's obligation to act on plaintiff's application in a reasonably timely manner." Id. Al-Rifahe has been waiting for the government to dispose of his application for well over a decade. |
| Threshold rulings |
Section 1252(a)(2)(B) bar rejected; Held moot
Read by a model
The issue, however, is whether § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) provides blanket cover for USCIS' decision to withhold adjudication of Al-Rifahe's application indefinitely. The Court concludes that it does not. |
| Nationality |
Iraq
Read by a model
Al-Rifahe is a native and citizen of Iraq. |
How the case ended
- Docket
- No. 0:10-cv-01971
- Filed
- May 5, 2010
- Ended
- October 11, 2011
- Suit's filing to its end
- 524 days
- How it ended
- Dismissed, ground not recorded
- From the record
- idb disp 14 (dismissed: other)
A voluntary or stipulated dismissal is how most suits end once the agency acts; the docket rarely says why.
Supreme Court and Eighth 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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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
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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
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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
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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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Thigulla v. Jaddou, 94 F.4th 770
Eighth Circuit, March 5, 2024. Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) and § 1255(a) bar review of USCIS's decision to delay adjudicating adjustment applications under its adjudication hold policy, so the district court lacked jurisdiction.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
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Eighth Circuit, December 21, 2018. The Eighth Circuit applies the TRAC factors to a petition to compel delayed agency action.
ImmCite: unchecked, treatment not confirmed yet, not evidence either way. ImmCite has not finished reviewing this published circuit decision, so it shows no signal yet. Its review began with circuit decisions in immigration cases and is being extended to the other published circuit decisions that immigration precedent relies on. Read the decisions…