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Case Name
Zhang v. Gonzales
IM-CA-0055
Docket / Court
4:07-cv-00503-SBA ( N.D. Cal. )
State/Territory
California
Case Type(s)
Immigration and/or the Border
Attorney Organization
ACLU of Northern California
Case Summary
On January, 24, 2007, plaintiff Yinan Zhang filed a petition for hearing on naturalization application under the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1447(b) in the U.S. District Court California Northern District. The complaint was amended on February 8, 2007 to name additional plaintiffs ...
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On January, 24, 2007, plaintiff Yinan Zhang filed a petition for hearing on naturalization application under the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1447(b) in the U.S. District Court California Northern District. The complaint was amended on February 8, 2007 to name additional plaintiffs and to assert class action allegations. The amended complaint alleged that plaintiffs were all long-time lawful permanent residents of the United States whose naturalization applications had been pending for over two years with the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services ("CIS"), awaiting the results of an "FBI name check." Plaintiffs asserted that the unreasonable delays caused by the "FBI name check" process violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief. Attorneys with the Asian Law Caucus, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Immigrants Rights Project, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, Inc. and the Council on American-Islamic Relations represented the plaintiffs.
The government moved to dismiss the case.
On June 12, 2007 several named plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their claims without prejudice, stating that plaintiff Zhang had decided to not to continue as a class representative and had retained new counsel to represent him individually. Those plaintiffs then filed a new lawsuit on July 2, 2007 which was styled Ahmadi v. Chertoff, 07-3455-WHA. See IM-CA-58 of this collection for proceedings in that case.
Zhang failed to respond to the government's motion to dismiss and the District Court (Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong) issued an order for Zhang to show cause why the case should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute. Zhang v. Still, 2007 WL 2126495 (N.D.Cal. 2007). Plaintiff Zhang failed to appear at the show cause hearing and Judge Armstrong dismissed the case without prejudice on September 5, 2007.
Dan Dalton - 11/06/2007
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Issues and Causes of Action
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Issues
Immigration/Border
Constitutional rights
U.S. citizenship - acquiring
Plaintiff Type
Private Plaintiff
Causes of Action
Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 551 et seq.
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101 et seq.
Case Details
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Defendant(s)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (“CIS”)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Plaintiff Description
All persons who have submitted naturalization applications to CIS, and who have met all statutory requirements for naturalization, and whose naturalization applications are not adjudicated within 120 days of the date of their initial exam.
Indexed Lawyer Organizations
ACLU of Northern California
Class action status sought
Yes
Class action status granted
No
Filed Pro Se
No
Prevailing Party
Defendant
Public Int. Lawyer
Yes
Nature of Relief
None
Source of Relief
None
Filed
01/24/2007
Case Closing Year
2007
Case Ongoing
No
Related Cases
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Case Listing
IM-CA-0058
: Ahmadi v. Chertoff (N.D. Cal.)
Additional Resources
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Documents
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Court
Docket(s)
N.D. Cal.
09/05/2007
4:07-cv-00503-SBA
IM-CA-0055-9000.pdf
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Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
General Documents
N.D. Cal.
02/08/2007
First Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief and Petition for Naturalization Pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1447(B) [ECF# 4]
IM-CA-0055-0001.pdf
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Detail
N.D. Cal.
05/07/2007
Joint Case Management Statement and Proposed Order [ECF# 28]
IM-CA-0055-0002.pdf
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Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
N.D. Cal.
07/23/2007
Order to Show Cause [ECF# 37]
(2007 WL 2126495)
IM-CA-0055-0004.pdf
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WESTLAW
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Detail
N.D. Cal.
09/05/2007
Order [Re: Dismissal] [ECF# 41]
IM-CA-0055-0003.pdf
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Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
People
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Judges
Armstrong, Saundra Brown
(N.D. Cal.)
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IM-CA-0055-0003 | IM-CA-0055-0004 | IM-CA-0055-9000
Plaintiff's Lawyers
Gallinger, Todd
(California)
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IM-CA-0055-0001 | IM-CA-0055-9000
Guttentag, Lucas
(California)
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IM-CA-0055-0001 | IM-CA-0055-9000
Lebecki, Alexandre Nicholas
(California)
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IM-CA-0055-9000
Ling, Sin Yen
(California)
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IM-CA-0055-0001 | IM-CA-0055-9000
Lyons, Christopher Joren
(California)
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IM-CA-0055-0001 | IM-CA-0055-9000
Mass, Julia Harumi
(California)
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IM-CA-0055-0001 | IM-CA-0055-9000
Nonaka, Scott T
(California)
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IM-CA-0055-9000
Schlosser, Alan Lawrence
(California)
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IM-CA-0055-0001 | IM-CA-0055-9000
Solanki, Sandeep
(California)
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IM-CA-0055-9000
Wang, Cecillia D
(California)
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IM-CA-0055-0001 | IM-CA-0055-0002 | IM-CA-0055-9000
Defendant's Lawyers
Olsen, Edward A
(California)
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IM-CA-0055-9000
Robins, Jeffrey S
(District of Columbia)
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IM-CA-0055-9000
Stevens, Elizabeth Jones
(District of Columbia)
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IM-CA-0055-9000
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