On April 20, 2008, Families for Freedom and the National Immigration Project filed a lawsuit under the Administrative Procedures Act against the Department of Homeland Security in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiffs complained that the defendants had failed to promulgate regulations governing facilities in which DHS detains immigrants, despite the fact that the plaintiffs had previously petitioned them to establish such regulations. Plaintiffs alleged that DHS' failure to respond to the petition violated § 706(1) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), requiring a reasoned and timely response to the petition and that the constructive denial of the petition was arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion under § 706(2) of the APA.

On June 25, 2009, the court (Judge Denny Chin) denied the defendant's motion to dismiss, holding that the plaintiffs properly stated a claim that DHS violated the APA. Further, the court found that the defendants' delay in responding to the petition was unreasonable. Because it held that the defendants had not yet responded to plaintiffs' petition within the meaning of the APA, the court dismissed plaintiffs' constructive denial claim as moot. The court ordered the agency to decide plaintiffs' petition within 30 days and closed the case.

Kristen Sagar - 08/19/2009


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