Brady Souma Ewoudou v. Joseph Edlow, Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia grants the defendants’ Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss an action seeking mandamus and Administrative Procedure Act relief for alleged delay in adjudicating the plaintiff’s asylum application. Applying the TRAC factors, the court concludes that an approximately 51-month delay was not unreasonable, emphasizing agency priority-setting and the absence of bad faith. The court encourages expeditious action on the application but dismisses the plaintiff’s claims.

Holdings

1. The plaintiff failed to state a plausible claim that USCIS unreasonably delayed adjudication of his asylum application. Applying the TRAC factors, the approximately fifty-one-month delay was not unreasonable under the circumstances alleged.
2. The plaintiff's claims under the APA and the Mandamus Act were subject to the same standard for obtaining relief based on unreasonable agency delay.
3. The TRAC factors may be applied at the Rule 12(b)(6) stage when the facts alleged do not support a plausible claim of unreasonable delay.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the complaint plausibly alleged that USCIS unreasonably delayed adjudication of Ewoudou's asylum application under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Mandamus Act.
2. Whether application of the TRAC factors at the Rule 12(b)(6) stage required dismissal of the unreasonable-delay claims.

Disposition

dismissed