Mandamus decisions / District of Minnesota

Al-Rifahe v. Mayorkas

District of MinnesotaJohn R. TunheimDecided March 7, 2011No. 0:10-cv-01971

Read the decisionOriginal on CourtListener

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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
  • 1. Rule of reasonfavors the applicant
  • 2. Congressional timetablefavors the applicant
  • 3. Human health and welfarefavors the applicant
  • 4. Competing prioritiesfavors the government
  • 5. Interests prejudicedfavors the applicant
  • 6. No impropriety neededneutral
Read by a model
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.