Mandamus decisions / Eastern District of Missouri
Tokas v. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
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
Plaintiff brings this complaint for writ of mandamus, declaratory, and injunctive relief under 28 U.S.C. § 1361, seeking a Court order directing the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to conduct an expedited review of his immigration petition. |
|---|---|
| Form or filing |
I-360 (special immigrant petition)
Read by a model
Plaintiff filed a Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) self-petition with USCIS on November 20, 2024, alleging he suffers domestic abuse, discrimination, and homelessness. |
| What the suit asked for |
Decide the application
Read by a model
Plaintiff asks this Court to order USCIS to act on his petition, which is something it may do only in extraordinary cases. |
| Kind of order |
A ruling on a motion or the petition
Read by a model
On initial review, the Court dismisses Plaintiff’s complaint for writ of mandamus, declaratory, and injunctive relief, and denies all pending motions as moot. |
| Motion decided | None Read by a model |
| Whose motion |
The court on its own
Read by a model
On initial review, the Court dismisses Plaintiff’s complaint for writ of mandamus, declaratory, and injunctive relief, and denies all pending motions as moot. |
| Disposition |
Dismissed
The case or every delay claim was dismissed for a reason other than mootness.
Read by a model
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's complaint seeking a writ of mandamus, declaratory, and injunctive relief is DISMISSED without prejudice. |
| Prevailing party |
Government
Read by a model
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's complaint seeking a writ of mandamus, declaratory, and injunctive relief is DISMISSED without prejudice. |
| The delay claim |
Dismissed
Read by a model
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's complaint seeking a writ of mandamus, declaratory, and injunctive relief is DISMISSED without prejudice. |
| Months pending |
12.2 months from the application to the court's decision
Read by a model
Plaintiff filed a Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) self-petition with USCIS on November 20, 2024, alleging he suffers domestic abuse, discrimination, and homelessness. |
| TRAC factors | The court did not weigh the TRAC factors Read by a model |
| Threshold rulings | None Read by a model |
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. How decisions are grouped into cases.
| Decision | Decided | Judge | Disposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tokas v. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration ServicesThis decision | November 26, 2025 | Sarah E. Pitlyk | Dismissed |
| Tokas v. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration ServicesThe case's latest decision: its outcome is the one counted | April 24, 2026 | Sarah E. Pitlyk | Denied in the government's favor |
How the case ended
- Docket
- No. 4:25-cv-01740
- Filed
- November 25, 2025
- Ended
- November 26, 2025
- Suit's filing to its end
- 1 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. Other suits in this court.
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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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…