Can a Writ of Mandamus be used in immigration Court?

The Writ of Mandamus is a power tool that can be used to force a state or federal agency to make a final decision on an administrative matter.

In the immigration context, a Mandamus petition can be used to force USCIS to decide a pending petition or application, including, but not limited to an I-485 adjustment of status, an I-130 petition, or an N-400 application for naturalization.

Every immigration attorney knows that a Mandamus petition can be used for cases that are stuck with USCIS. However, I don’t believe that any immigration attorney has ever considered resorting to a Mandamus petition in an immigration court. I did.

I one case, while representing a client in the Buffalo Immigration Court, I filed a motion for a change of venue, as my client was a resident of New Jersey for almost 40 years. The court set an individual hearing on the matter and stated on the record that the motion to change venue was going to be decided on the same date.

I wrote a letter to the Department of Justice (which is directly responsible for the administration of the immigration courts) and advised them that I was going to file a Mandamus petition unless the Buffalo Immigration Court rendered a decision on the motion to change venue in a timely fashion.

I am not sure exactly what happened internally between the DOJ and the immigration court, but the motion to change venue was approved a few weeks later.

In a second case, while representing a client in the Newark Immigration Court, I filed a motion to terminate proceedings. At the master calendar hearing, the government attorney was not ready to proceed, and the immigration court granted a continuance.

During the following hearing, I reminded the immigration court of the pending motion to terminate proceedings. Once again, the government was not ready to proceed and sought another continuance. I advised the immigration court that I was going to file a Mandamus petition unless my motion to dismiss was adjudicated on that day. The court went ahead and terminated proceedings a few minutes later.

In sum, while I have never filed a Mandamus petition against an immigration court, I am very confident it is feasible in certain instances.