Makinano v. Jaddou

Background

Bonafacio Aguja Makinano, representing himself, sued Ur Mendoza Jaddou in her official capacity as the director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency subdivision of the Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit concerned USCIS actions and decisions involving Makinano’s petitions for alien relatives, known as I-130 petitions, filed for his two adopted minor children who reside in the Philippines.

The court understood the complaint as seeking an order requiring government action under the federal mandamus statute or relief under the Administrative Procedure Act.

Venue analysis

Venue is the legally proper federal court location for a lawsuit. The court applied 28 U.S.C. § 1391(e)(1), which permits certain actions against federal officers or agencies in a district where the defendant resides, where a substantial part of the relevant events or omissions occurred, or, when no real property is involved, where the plaintiff resides.

Makinano stated that he resides in Elmhurst, in Queens County, New York. Queens County is in the Eastern District of New York. He did not provide facts showing that the Southern District of New York was a proper venue: he did not identify where Jaddou resides or where a substantial part of the relevant events or omissions occurred. The court also found that no real property was involved.

Disposition

The court transferred the action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), the federal statute allowing transfer when venue is improper. The order did not decide the merits of Makinano’s claims. It stated that the transferee court would decide whether Makinano could proceed without prepaying filing fees. The court directed that no summons issue from the Southern District of New York and closed the action in that court.

The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. It also directed the Clerk to mail Makinano a copy of the order and record service on the docket.