Week Ahead in Immigration: July 19, 2021

(Reuters) – Here are some upcoming events of interest to the immigration law community. All times are local unless stated otherwise.

Tuesday, July 20

9 a.m. – An 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel will consider a U.S. citizen’s claim that the Department of State wrongly denied an application by her husband, a Mexican national, for an immigrant visa. Courts are typically prohibited from reviewing decisions by U.S. consulates, but Angela Del Valle says her case is covered by an exemption for situations in which a petitioner alleges a violation of constitutional rights.

The case is Del Valle v. Secretary of State, 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19-14889. For Del Valle: David Stoller. For the State Department: Linda McNamara of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Wednesday, July 21

9 a.m. – Bradley Banias of Wasden Banias, arguing on behalf of four applicants for U-visas for crime victims, will urge a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel to rule that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security does not have unfettered discretion to delay decisions on visa applications. The petitioners say DHS is bound by its own regulations to issue decisions in a timely manner, and four federal judges were wrong to rule otherwise.

The case is Garcia v. DHS, 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 21-1037. For the petitioners: Bradley Banias of Wasden Banias. For DHS: Elizabeth Veit of the U.S. Department of Justice.

1:30 p.m. – A federal magistrate judge in Oakland will hold a status conference in an immigrant advocacy group’s bid to obtain records pertaining to the involvement of city and county law enforcement in the detention and deportation of immigrants by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE has already provided thousands of pages of documents in the four-year-old case, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu has asked the parties to provide an update on when production will be completed and what issues remain in dispute.

The case is Immigrant Legal Resource Center v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 4:17-cv-06029. For the ILRC: Naomi Igra of Sidley Austin. For DHS: Emmet Ong of the U.S. Department of Justice.

1:30 p.m. – A federal judge in San Francisco will hold an initial conference in a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union seeking records on federal immigration agencies’ use of facial recognition surveillance technology to identify, locate and track individuals. The ACLU says the agencies ignored its request for a trove of documents, and that the public has a right to know the government is using facial recognition, particularly on social media.

The case is ACLU of Northern California et al v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 4:21-cv-02632. For the ACLU: Vasudha Talla. For ICE: Savith Iyengar of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Thursday, July 22

9 a.m. – Lawyers for a Honduran national enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program will urge a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel to revive her lawsuit against four U.S. Immigration and Customs Agent who she says unlawfully arrested and detained her after posting bond for another immigrant. Riccy Mabel Enriquez-Perdomo, who has lived in the U.S. since she was 9 years old and is married with two children, says she was held in nine different facilities in several states for eight days before being released. But a judge ruled that because the officers were executing a valid removal order issued before Perdomo enrolled in DACA, they could not be held liable.

The case is Enriquez-Perdomo v. Newman, 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 20-6393.

For Enriquez-Perdomo: Benjamin Pugh of Pugh & Roach.

For the government: Timothy Thompson of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Know of an event that could be included in an upcoming Week Ahead in Immigration? Contact Dan Wiessner at daniel.wiessner@thomsonreuters.com.