This case addressed the termination of an immigration program granting deferred action to seriously ill individuals.
The Irish International Immigrant Center (a.k.a. the Rian Immigration Center) filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on September 5 ...
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This case addressed the termination of an immigration program granting deferred action to seriously ill individuals.
The Irish International Immigrant Center (a.k.a. the Rian Immigration Center) filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on September 5, 2019. The plaintiff sued U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and President Trump under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Declaratory Judgment Act. Plaintiff sought injunctive and declaratory relief claiming violations of the APA and the Fifth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. For decades, USCIS allowed people battling serious illnesses to request deferred action. In August 2019, the Trump Administration prohibited USCIS field offices from granting deferred action to the individuals who could ordinarily be protected by this program. The plaintiff alleged this prohibition was illegal. Plaintiff was represented by the ACLU of Massachusetts, Lawyers for Civil Rights, and private counsel. Judge Indira Talwani was assigned.
The parties jointly moved to stay the case on October 29, 2019. The parties sought a settlement or other nonjudicial resolution. The court granted the stay two days later. This followed the USCIS announcement that it would reinstate the deferred action program, but requests would only be granted “based on compelling facts and circumstances.”
Defendants filed a motion to dismiss on February 28, 2020. The defendants first argued that the court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to review defendants' enforcement discretion. They also argued that the plaintiffs failed to state a claim under the Fifth Amendment. The motion was denied three days later. 2020 WL 6395575.
On June 15, 2021, plaintiff filed a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice regarding all claims in this case. As of July 13, 2021, no further reasoning was stated in the notice itself or on the
ACLU of Massachusetts's website. This case is now closed.
Peter Harding - 10/30/2019
Eric Gripp - 07/13/2021
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