Tian v. Mayorkas
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:21-cv-07226
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Tian v. Mayorkas, Judge Abrams granted the parties’ request to pause the case until further order.
The stay affected Tian, the government, and the litigation concerning USCIS’s adjudication of Tian’s Form I-485 application; it also postponed the scheduled pretrial conference.
What happened
In Tian v. Mayorkas, the plaintiff asked the court to require U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to decide an application for permanent resident status. The application was based on the immigrant-investor Regional Center Program.
The government asked to pause the case because Congress had not renewed the program’s authorization, which expired on June 30, 2021. The plaintiff agreed to the request, and the government said the agency was holding related applications while Congress considered possible renewal.
Judge Abrams granted the application and stayed the case until further order. She also postponed the November 5, 2021, conference without setting a new date and required the parties to file a status letter by the earlier of 30 days after relevant congressional action or January 25, 2022.
The detailed version
- Tian v. Mayorkas · No. 1:21-cv-07226
- Ronnie Abrams
- Oct. 25, 2021
Background
The plaintiff sought an order requiring U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to adjudicate his Form I-485 application to register for permanent residence or adjust status. The application was based on an approved or pending investment-related immigration process under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program.
The opinion explains that Congress created the Regional Center Program to allow immigrant investors to satisfy the job-creation requirement through presumed indirect hires based on an economic formula. Unlike the direct-investment portion of the EB-5 program, the Regional Center Program requires congressional reauthorization. Its authorization expired on June 30, 2021, and Congress had not extended it when the request was made.
Request to Stay the Case
The government asked the court to stay, or pause, the action while Congress considered whether to renew the program. The government stated that USCIS was holding Regional Center-related Forms I-526 and Forms I-485 based on those petitions. It requested a stay until 30 days after Congress enacted reauthorization legislation or until either side asked the court to lift the stay. The plaintiff consented to the request, which the government identified as the first request to stay the action.
Ruling
The court granted the application and stayed the case until further order of the court. It postponed the initial pretrial conference scheduled for November 5, 2021, without setting a new date. The parties were ordered to file a status letter by the earlier of 30 days after congressional action concerning the Regional Center Program or January 25, 2022. The order stayed the litigation and did not decide whether USCIS was required to adjudicate the plaintiff’s application.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.