Federal Immigration Litigation

A writ of mandamus is a lawsuit filed in federal district court asking a judge to order a government agency to perform a duty the law requires of it. In immigration, that duty is usually deciding a case: an application or petition that has been pending far beyond normal processing times. A mandamus action does not ask the court to approve your case, and it cannot guarantee an approval. It asks the court to end the delay, so the agency decides instead of leaving you in limbo. For many long-stalled cases, that alone changes everything.

There is no fixed number of months written in the statute. Courts weigh whether the delay is unreasonable in light of the case type, the agency's posted processing times, the reasons the government gives, and the harm the wait is causing you. A case a few weeks past the posted range is usually premature. A case pending years beyond it is a different conversation. In a consultation we compare your timeline against the current published processing times and tell you honestly whether a mandamus action is viable or whether patience, or a different remedy, serves you better.

This is the most common fear, and it deserves a straight answer. Filing a lawsuit is a legal right, and the agency is required to decide your case on the law and the record, not on whether you sued. What a lawsuit does is force a decision: if your underlying case is weak, the decision that finally arrives can be a denial, and litigation does not change the merits. That is why we review the underlying case honestly before filing, and tell you plainly whether forcing a decision is actually in your interest.

The Administrative Procedure Act allows a person harmed by final agency action to ask a federal court to set that action aside when it is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise contrary to law. In immigration practice, APA suits are used to challenge denials and agency policies that the record or the statute does not support. The case is decided on the administrative record, through written briefing, which makes it a discipline of close reading and precise argument. Not every denial can be challenged under the APA, and we will tell you when yours cannot.

Habeas corpus is a petition filed in federal district court asking a judge to review whether a person's detention is lawful. In immigration, it is most often used when detention has become prolonged without a meaningful review, or when the legal basis for the custody is wrong. It is not a challenge to the underlying immigration case: it is a challenge to the custody itself. Because someone is in a facility while these cases move, we treat habeas matters with real urgency, and we keep the family informed in their own language throughout.

Yes. The appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals generally must be filed within 30 days of an immigration judge's decision, and that deadline is strict: missing it can end the right to appeal no matter how strong the argument. If the Board rules against you, a Petition for Review can take the case to a United States Court of Appeals on its own short, jurisdictional deadline. We handle both, along with motions to reopen and reconsider, so a case can move upward without losing time to a referral.

The government is served, and the United States Attorney's Office must respond on the court's schedule. In delay cases, a substantial share resolve without a trial: the agency issues the decision the lawsuit asked for, and the case ends. In others, the government defends, the parties brief the issues, and the judge rules. Timelines vary by court and case type, and we will give you a realistic picture for your district and your posture before you commit, not after.