Milligan v. Pompeo
| Decision Date | 19 November 2020 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 20-2631 (JEB) |
| Citation | 502 F.Supp.3d 302 |
| Parties | Daniel MILLIGAN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Michael POMPEO, Secretary of State, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
Charles Herman Kuck, Kuck Immigration Partners LLC, Atlanta, GA, Gregory Howard Siskind, Siskind Susser, PC, Memphis, TN, Jeff Joseph, Joseph & Hall, P.C., Aurora, CO, for Plaintiff Daniel Milligan.
Gregory Howard Siskind, Siskind Susser, PC, Memphis, TN, Jeff Joseph, Joseph & Hall, P.C., Aurora, CO, for Plaintiffs Louise Cranston, Brooke Brooks, Merveilles Elohim Dziki Mbemba, Jennifer Nawrocki, Fahd Bensghir, Courtney Watkins, Amady Ba, Andrew Sterrett Abbott, Lizeth Catherine Crespo Castano, Sohail Akbani, Ahmad Khan, James Akers, Mingming Wang, Nadia Akram, Yasir Ali, Christopher Allen, Milena Molter, Katherine Allen, David Suarez Millan, Ashley Alvarez, Viterbo Florentino, Nicholas Anderson, Lauren Cockerill, Michael Armstrong, Claudia Palacios Levano, Matthew Baldwin, Stephanie Rueegg, Lisa Bari, Joerg Battermann, Maryruth Barnett, Dorde Grabez, Jeffrey Beale, Gerlyn Gelladula, Kent Becker, Eunhye Ju, Keriann Bennett, Andrea O'Callaghan, Mitchell Berger, Valerie Krisni, Jonathan Berry, Marlene Martinant, Chelsea Boyle, Christoffer Wallander Ianev, Daniel Burkhard, Kanokpron Saison, Matthew Cameron, Tran Quynh Lan Le, David M Campbell, Koryn Giraldo Torres, Jose G Castillo, Jr., Juan Manuel Olivares Lopes, Srikanth Challa, Bhargavi Vadlapudi, Douglas Connell, Mary Rose De Los Santos, Patrick Ryan Damian, Jennifer Valencia Cordero, Stanley Day, Danuchit Saythong, Britney Ann Dillon, Emillie May Lorraine Nesbitt, Paul Ellsworth, Muryel Acco, Grayson English, Giane Mojica, Phillip Fletcher, Jasmin Haasner, Alex Flores-Uribe, Gloria Jaimes Hernandez, Allison Frazier, Peter Andersen, Lila Ann Gabriel, Alexander Jonathon Foster Firth, Gabrielle Gollomp, Tom Benacin, Marissa Golub, Tamao Setaka, Claudia Gonzalez, Abdel Ilah, Federico Gonzalez Canales, Dulce Maria Juarez Ramirez, Nicole Ward Guardiola, Robin Bailie, Bulent Gundas, Alina Hudyma Vadimovna, Hayley Harlow, Michael Rankin, Wyatt Hart, Lydia Filiou, Ginger Hatton, Cireka Paris, Michael Henny, Alexander Blance, Scott Henry, Yana Rogovenko, Amy Hernstrom, Mark Ansell, Alison Hiatt, Jose Ernesto Aranda Ruiz, Ezekiel Honegger, Barbara Deckers, Brad Howell, Aimee Brookes, Chung Hsien Liu, Rhanne Rose Baylosis, Matthew Hunt, Emelyn Oliveros, Brett Johnson, Danielle Swanton, Brittney Johnson, Andrew Thomas, Kyle Kalutkiewicz, Anne-Sophie Martzloff, Jason Rajesh Kamdar, Monaria Sri Rezeki Sinaga, Deeksha Kaura, Purshotam, Hayden Kelly, Marine Manceau, Brian Kelly, Hedy Meliado, Kristyn Klefenz, Matthew Barton, John Kroeger, Junko Matsuda, Tristan Lawson, Kristian Antrobus, Leonard Lawton, Huanxing Huang, Jay Lee, Susie Huh, Morgan Lewis, Paula Franco, Lance Ang Li, Yu Juan, Kirsten Little, Ross Warden, John Keith Livingstone, Rachel Francisco Falcatan, Michael Vincenzo Longobardo, Mette Karine Sakkestad Olsen, Lindsey Malley, Calum Mair, Marisa Marie Mancinotti, Leonard-Felix Konstantin Junge, Eric Marksz, Youngsoo Jang, Ken McCann, Yana Vilchynska, Andrew McCray, Junhong Li, Hannah McCullen, Anthony Kirkpatrick, Kevin McGinnity, Isabela Eduardo Cruz, Sean McKeag, Emma Crampton, Walter Mendler, Andrea Schwenk, Steven Meyer, Renitha Talari, Eric Anthony Moglia, Paula Monjo Martinez, Jessica Moreno, Karl Phillips, Richard Morrill, Lanjuan Chen, Shane Morris, Elena Keselman, Taras Motsnyy, Tjasa Rebolj, Victoria Nahley, Terrance Walker, Alyssa Nelson, Tim Egly, Gabriel Nickell, Sunniva Vasdal, Josh Nosan, Anastasiia Khrushch, Diana Palma, Wim Lauryssen, Carrie Pendleton, James Dean, Wesley Barrett Pratt, Simone Yarrow, Karen Elizabeth Presley, Sylvia Hoehfurtner, Charlette Pretzer, Olivier Doriath, Megan Prunty, Stephen Rhodes, Demar'Jon Ransom, Nur Najihah Binti Saiful Anuar, Brittany Ratcliff, Yousuf Thaniyan Marhoon Al Toubi, Dallas Rensel, Sandrine Peres, Charity Reynolds, Lawrence Cannon, Jason Ricciardi, Xueqing Yang, Logan Robertson, Quynh Nguyen, Melissa Robinson, Syed Yawar Hussain, Bryan Rodgers, Karen Watters, Isaac Rodriguez, Judith Gurney, Hannes Roose, Goran Nacinovic, Robert Rowe, Seonyeong Kim, Michael Rywalt, Gulnaz Murtazina, Harrison Saghi, Judith Metz, Lauren Samuels, Kristie Demos, David Sankaran, Anna Piatkowska, Andrew Schafer, Stephanie Agnes, Sabrina Schersei, Fardin Sidiqi, Mariah Schrack, Alexis Karumuna, Ashley Sherrill, Oliver Hickenbotham, Robert Kristopher Spinden, Neda Etemad, Harry Suo, Yu Sheng, Dalton Thomas, Samantha Beresford, Nicholas Thompson, Elona Bregas, Hannah Toole, Andrea Pedani, Cory Trotter, Carmelita Aparece, David Tullius, Philine Boegeholz, Erik Tuomisto, Tatiana Buksha, Gillian Urbaniak, Nathan Heath, Lohit Vankineni, Satya Sravani Adusumalli, Sabrina Vitale, Salvatore D'Angelo, Ronald Wagoner, Ngan My Thanh, Timothy Walmsley, Tamara D'Angelo, Russel Walters, Deborah Massini, Demetrius Ward, Lisa Lindstrom, Reuben Williams, Ronalyn Becitas, Heather Danielle Wilson, Marc Steve Cooper, Lukasz Wyszynski, Izabela Marczak, Kangyue Xu, Giulia Pozza, Chiajen Yang, Gyeonghee Jo, Kevin Yang, Jing Xi Gu, Roy Yount, Martha Revilla, Siyi Zhao, Mengji Han, Michael Palmero, Leslie Oro, Colin Solis, Novika Lesatri, Sabeen Sidiqui, Matthew Lee, Nikola Radojkovic, Jevgenija Plotina, Aisha Ali, Salad Abagira, Emily Durghalli, Wissam Maida, Zaid Hydari, Zahra Amirzada, Jody McNabb, Ibrahim Ali Elbadr I. Said Hussein Fares, Andrew Billon, Annina Preisig, Tammy N. Tommaseo, Andrea K. Djabali, Jerry Scott, Yoshiaki Suenaga, Andrew Ness, Francisco Ismael Sandoval Sanchez, Herman Martin, Buranan Feaungnoi, Samah Azeez, Sean O'Connor, Georgia Richards, All Plaintiffs.
Joseph F. Carilli, Jr., U.S. Attorney's Office, Washington, DC, for Defendants.
JAMES E. BOASBERG, United States District Judge This case features "pair[s] of star-crossed lovers" on whose lives, like Romeo and Juliet's, a plague has wreaked havoc. In that tragedy, news of Juliet's ruse never reaches Romeo because an "infectious pestilence" forces a quarantine that blocks the message's delivery. Here, similarly, COVID-19 has kept apart our Plaintiffs — 153 U.S. citizens and their foreign-born fiancé(e)s. Each of these cross-border couples wishes to reunite and marry in the United States, but, given the pandemic, none has been able to obtain the visa necessary for the foreigner to travel to America. Some fiancé(e)s have been barred because the State Department has interpreted Presidential Proclamations to prohibit certain visa adjudications for people who reside in particular countries. Others, unaffected by the Proclamations, face the State Department's protracted delays in processing their visas.
Believing State's actions to be unlawful, Plaintiffs have brought this suit against the Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Acting Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the Departments of State and Homeland Security. They now move for a preliminary injunction, asking this Court to both enjoin the State Department's visa-processing suspension and to compel the Government to adjudicate their visas more expeditiously. They succeed in part. The Court agrees with Plaintiffs that State has acted unlawfully in suspending visa issuances based on the Presidential Proclamations, but it finds that Defendants have the better argument on the delay claim. The Court will thus grant in part and deny in part Plaintiffs’ Motion.
The Court will kick off with an overview of the process to obtain a fiancé(e) visa and provide information on the Presidential Proclamations. It will then turn to the background of Plaintiffs’ claims and the procedural history of the case.
The fiancé(e) visa, which is formally known as a K-1 visa, is a nonimmigrant visa that allows a foreign citizen to travel to America to marry his or her U.S.-citizen fiancé(e) and then apply for lawful-permanent-resident status. See U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec., Visas for Fiancé(e)s of U.S. Citizens (March 23, 2018), https://bit-ly.sw.library.ntpu.edu.tw:8443/35j9Jup (USCIS Fiancé(e) Visa Information). It is a subset of K visas, others of which are available to foreign-born spouses and to children of fiancé(e)s and spouses.
To obtain a K-1 visa, the U.S. citizen fiancé(e) must file a Form I-129F, commonly known as a Petition for Alien Fiancé(e), with a domestic office of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Id.; see also Dep't of Homeland Sec., Petition for Alien Fiancé(e) (July 23, 2020), https://bit-ly.sw.library.ntpu.edu.tw:8443/3eJ57k5 (Form I-129F); U.S. Dep't of State — Bureau of Consular Affairs, Nonimmigrant Visa for a Fiancé(e) (K-1) (last visited Nov. 10, 2020), https://bit-ly.sw.library.ntpu.edu.tw:8443/3n6Qmug (State Dep't Fiancé(e) Visa Information). USCIS then reviews the form for completeness and requests additional documentation as needed. See USCIS Fiancé(e) Visa Information. Once USCIS determines that the U.S. citizen has established the foreign-born fiancé(e)’s eligibility for the visa, it sends the application to the State Department's National Visa Center for further processing. Id.
After NVC receives an approved application from USCIS, it creates a case in the State Department's electronic application system. See U.S. Dep't of State, Step 2: Begin National Visa Center (NVC) Processing (last visited Nov. 9, 2020), https://bit-ly.sw.library.ntpu.edu.tw:8443/2JKANtW. It then forwards the case to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate where the foreign-born fiancé(e) will apply and interview for a K-1 visa (generally, where the foreign-born fiancé(e) resides). Id.; see also State Dep't Fiancé(e) Visa Information.
The U.S. Embassy or Consulate, once in receipt of the case, schedules an interview with the foreign-born fiancé(e). See USCIS Fiancé(e) Visa Information. A State Department consular officer conducts that...
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