Hootkins v. Napolitano, Case No. CV 07-5696-CAS (MANx).
| Citation | 645 F.Supp.2d 856 |
| Decision Date | 28 April 2009 |
| Docket Number | Case No. CV 07-5696-CAS (MANx). |
| Parties | Carolyn Robb HOOTKINS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Janet NAPOLITANO, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | United States District Courts. 9th Circuit. United States District Courts. 9th Circuit. Central District of California |
Alan R. Diamante, Alan R. Diamante Law Offices, Los Angeles, CA, Brent W. Renison, Parrilli Renison, Lake Oswego, OR, for Plaintiffs.
Elizabeth J. Stevens, Patricia E. Bruckner, John P. Devaney, U.S. Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation, Washington, DC, for Defendants.
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AS TO ALL PLAINTIFFS OUTSIDE THE NINTH CIRCUIT DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AS TO PLAINTIFFS IN THE NINTH CIRCUIT AND GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFFS' RENEWED MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
On August 30, 2007, plaintiffs,1 on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated filed the instant class action case. On January 28, 2008, the Court denied plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment without prejudice to its being renewed. On March 17, 2008, the Court granted in part and denied in part defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiffs' complaint. Specifically, the Court granted defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiffs Hootkins', Moncayo-Gigax, Vargas de Fisher's, Lockett's, Brenteson's, Win's, Engstrom's, Pointdexter's, Rudl's, Standifer's, and Batool's claims under the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA") for lack of final agency action, but denied defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiffs claims under the Mandamus Act and denied defendants' motion to dismiss the claims of those plaintiffs residing outside of the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit.
On March 20, 2008, plaintiffs filed their operative first amended complaint ("FAC"). Plaintiffs seek injunctive, declaratory, and mandamus relief under the Administrative Procedure Act (the "APA"), 5 U.S.C. § 701 et seq.; the Mandamus Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1361; and the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201 et seq. against Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"); and Jonathan Scharfen, Acting Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS"), in their official capacities.2 The current defendants in this action are Janet Napolitano, Secretary of DHS, and Michael Aytes, Acting Deputy Director of USCIS, in their official capacities (collectively, "defendants" or the "government").
The FAC alleges that defendants wrongfully determined that plaintiffs are not entitled to immediate relative status for purposes of the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), 8 U.S.C. §§ 1151 et seq. due to the death of their U.S. citizen spouses.3 In contrast, defendants assert that in order to be considered an "immediate relative" spouse for purposes of 8 U.S.C. § 1151 et seq., a surviving alien spouse must have been married to his or her petitioning citizen spouse for at least two years prior to the U.S. citizen spouse's death.
With respect to plaintiffs' challenge to defendants' interpretation of 8 U.S.C. § 1151(b)(2)(A)(i), plaintiffs request that the Court compel defendants (1) to find, as a matter of statutory construction, that plaintiffs are "immediate relative" spouses for purposes of the INA and were not stripped of their status of "spouse" of a United States citizen upon the death of their citizen spouse; (2) to reopen and adjudicate their deceased citizen spouses' immigrant I-130 petitions; and (3) to reopen and adjudicate (a) plaintiffs' applications for adjustment of status or (b) plaintiffs' immigrant visa applications. Plaintiffs also seek an injunction prohibiting defendants from using the death of a citizen spouse as a discretionary factor in the adjudication of I-130 petitions and I-485 applications.4
The FAC also challenges the legality of 8 C.F.R. § 205.1(a)(3)(i)(C), which calls for automatic revocation of an I-130 upon the death of the citizen spouse in cases where: (1) the I-130 petition has been approved but (2) there has been no final decision on the alien's I-485 application. 8 C.F.R. § 205.1(a)(3)(i)(C)(2) affords relief from revocation, but requires alien spouses whose U.S. citizen petitioning spouses have died to request humanitarian reinstatement of their I-130 petition, and to come forward with a substitute affidavit of support from a relative willing to serve as a substitute sponsor. In this regard, plaintiffs seek a declaration to the effect that it is improper to revoke the approval of an I-130 petition unless the alien spouse requests humanitarian reinstatement under 8 C.F.R. § 205.1(a)(3)(i)(C)(2), and that 8 C.F.R. § 205.1(a)(3)(i)(C)(2) is invalid as a matter of law. Plaintiffs also seek an injunction prohibiting defendants from revoking, in cases in which the United States citizen spouse previously executed a Form I-864, the approval of an I-130 petition under 8 C.F.R. § 205.1(a)(3)(i)(C)(2).
On January 6, 2009, 2009 WL 57031, the Court certified a Ninth Circuit class, defined as
All aliens whose United States citizen spouse died before the couple's two-year wedding anniversary, and whose citizen spouse filed an I-130 petition and a Form I-864 or I-864EZ affidavit of support on behalf of the alien spouse, so long as he or she can also demonstrate that (1) the Form I-130 petition is now pending with or was adjudicated by a USCIS office located within the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit, or (2) at the time of the citizen spouse's death, either the citizen spouse or the alien spouse resided within the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit.
The Court further certified a subclass of alien spouses who entered the United States on fiancé visas, defined as
All aliens who, within ninety days of admission to the United States as a nonimmigrant fiancé, married the petitioning United States citizen, and whose citizen spouse died before the couple's two-year wedding anniversary, so long as he or she can also demonstrate that the citizen spouse filed an I-129F petition and a Form I-864 or I-864EZ affidavit of support on behalf of the alien spouse, and (1) the Form I-129F petition is now pending with or was adjudicated by a USCIS office located within the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit, or (2) at the time of the citizen spouse's death, either the citizen spouse or the alien spouse resided within the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit.
However, the Court declined to certify a nationwide class, finding that "other circuits clearly have an interest in having their own Courts of Appeals decide the question of the proper interpretation of 8 U.S.C. § 1151(b)(2)(A)(i)."
On March 9, 2009, plaintiffs filed the instant renewed motion for summary judgment. On March 13, 2009, defendants filed the instant motion for partial summary judgment as to the Ninth Circuit plaintiffs and the instant motion for partial summary judgment as to plaintiffs outside the Ninth Circuit. On March 23, 2009, defendants filed an opposition to plaintiffs' renewed motion for summary judgment. On March 27, 2009, plaintiffs filed oppositions to defendants' motions. Replies were filed on April 6, 2009. A hearing was held on April 22, 2009. After carefully considering the arguments set forth by the parties, the Court finds and concludes as follows.
The facts underlying this action are not materially in dispute. Plaintiffs are all aliens who were previously married to United States citizens. With the exception of plaintiff Nguyen's spouse, the U.S. citizen spouses all filed a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative ("I-130 petition"), on behalf of plaintiffs pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1154(a)(1)(A)(i).5 The same day that their citizen spouses filed the I-130 petitions, each of the alien plaintiffs, except for plaintiff Lu, filed a Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Resident Status or to Adjust Status ("I-485 application").6 Citizen petitioners also submitted an affidavit of support ("I-864") in support of their I-485s.
Except for plaintiff Lu, plaintiffs' United States citizen spouses each died after filing their respective I-130 petitions, but before adjudication of said petitions.7 For the majority of plaintiffs, USCIS then denied the I-130 petitions based on defendants' determination that plaintiffs were not "immediate relative[s]" for purposes of 8 U.S.C. § 1151 et seq. because plaintiffs' citizen spouses died before their two-year marriage anniversary.8 Plaintiff Lu's I-130 petition was initially approved, but was then automatically revoked by USCIS upon the death of plaintiff Lu's spouse.
Summary judgment is appropriate where "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact" and "the movant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c). The moving party has the initial burden of identifying relevant portions of the record that demonstrate the absence of a fact or facts necessary for one or more essential elements of each cause of action upon which the moving party seeks judgment. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).
If the moving party has sustained its burden, the nonmoving party must then identify specific facts, drawn from materials on file, that demonstrate that there is a dispute as to material facts on the elements that the moving party has contested. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The nonmoving party must not simply rely on the pleadings and must do more than make "conclusory allegations [in] an affidavit." Lujan v. National Wildlife Fed'n, 497 U.S. 871, 888, 110 S.Ct. 3177, 111 L.Ed.2d 695 (1990). See also Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Summary judgment must be granted for the moving party if the nonmoving party "fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party...
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