Kamal v. Mukasey
N/AOUTCOME: Government's Motion to Dismiss Denied
Successful opposition to a motion to dismiss the plaintiff's claim for mandamus relief against the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Plaintiff was seeking an order from the U.S. Dist ... rict Court for the Northern District of Illinois compelling the governent to decide his application for adjustment of status to a lawful permanent resident which had been pending for approximately five years because of an incomplete background check. The government argued that the court lacked jurisdiction under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which bars federal courts from reviewing the discretionary decisions of the immigration service, including decisions on applications for adjustment of status. We successfully argued that a failure to take action on an application within a reasonable time is not itself a discretionary decision. Therefore, the federal courts can review whether the delay is reasonable in spite of the Immigration and Nationality Act's jurisdictional bar.