Opinion
21-cv-01960-TSH
07-08-2021
SEYED AMIR SINA MIRMOTALEBI POURSOHI, et al., Plaintiffs, v. ANTONY BLINKEN, Defendant.
ORDER DENYING REQUEST FOR CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
Re: Dkt. No. 14
THOMAS S. HIXSON, United States Magistrate Judge
Plaintiffs Seyed Amir Sina Mirmotalebi Poursohi and Fatemehsadat Mirmotalebi bring this petition for writ of mandamus to compel Defendant Antony Blinken to adjudicate Mirmotalebi's immigrant visa application. Pending before the Court is their request to schedule a Rule 26(f) conference to compel Defendant Antony Blinken to produce the administrative record in Mirmotalebi's case. ECF No. 14. Plaintiffs argue that “the essence of this case is unreasonable delay, and the materials in the Certified Administrative Record (‘CAR') will show whether the delay is reasonable.” They state they “are understandably desperate to expedite the resolution of their case, and moving to summary judgment phase in an Administrative Procedures Act case without a CAR would put Plaintiffs at an extraordinary disadvantage.”
In response, Defendant states that during the parties' discussions on this issue, Plaintiffs' stated reason for requesting an administrative record is to ascertain whether the agency is continuing to apply to Plaintiffs' visa application the prior administration's proclamation, Presidential Proclamation (“PP”) 9645, imposing travel restrictions. ECF No. 21. Defendant states that PP 9645 has been rescinded and played no role in the outcome of Mirmotalebi's application. Defendant also states the agency conducted a good faith search and found no record of a Form DS-5535 being submitted or uploaded, there is no CAR to produce, and the agency is not in possession of any responsive records that pertain to the subject matter motivating Plaintiffs' request for a CAR.
Signed by President Trump in September 2017, PP 9645 suspended and limited the entry into the United States of certain categories of nationals of Iran and other countries. See https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-201700685/pdf/DCPD-201700685.pdf.
On January 20, 2021, President Biden signed PP 10141, which ended the travel restrictions under PP 9645. See https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021 -01 -25/pdf/2021 -01749.pdf.
Form DS-5535 is used to collect supplemental information for visa applicants. See https://tr.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/91/DS-5535-Supplemental-Questions-For-Visa-Applicants.pdf
As their request appears to be moot, the Court DENIES Plaintiffs' request for a Rule 26(f) conference.
IT IS SO ORDERED.