USCIS Delay Case Moves Forward: Mohamed v. Jaddou

Mohamed v. Jaddou

"Plaintiff Rabi Awil Mohamed came to the United States as a refugee in 2015 and has been seeking derivative refugee status via I-730 petitions for his family since arrival. After filing his initial Complaint, United States Customs and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) approved his I-730 petitions and sent them to the Department of State (“DOS”) for processing in Ethiopia. Mr. Mohamed maintains an unreasonable delay claim against Ur M. Jaddou, Director of USCIS, and Rena Bitter, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs (collectively the “defendants”). USCIS argues that by approving and sending the petitions to DOS, any claims against Director Jaddou are moot because USCIS can take no further action. DOS then argues that upon the dismissal of the claims against USCIS, Mr. Mohamed’s unreasonable delay claim against Secretary Bitter fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Because the claims against Director Jaddou are not moot and Mr. Mohamed has pled sufficient facts to sustain a claim of unreasonable delay, the Court will deny the defendants’ Motion to Dismiss."

[Hats off to Alexandra Zaretsky, Melissa Shay Keaney and Marc Prokosch!]