Ngwanyia v. Ashcroft: Class Action Challenges INS Delay in Adjudicating Asylee Adjustment Applications

IMMIGRATION LAW & POLICY

Asylum, Refugee, and Other
Protected Statuses

NGWANYIA V. ASHCROFT: CLASS ACTION CHALLENGES INS DELAY IN ADJUDICATING ASYLEE ADJUSTMENT APPLICATIONS
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 16, No. 2, April 12, 2002

Forty-six asylees have filed a class action lawsuit in federal district court in Minnesota to challenge delays and mismanagement on the part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the processing and adjudication of applications for adjustment to lawful permanent resident status. Although section 209(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes the INS to issue 10,000 immigrant visas per year to asylees, the plaintiffs allege that since 1994 the INS has failed to issue approximately 18,417 asylee immigrant visas that should have been allocated to waiting plaintiffs and class members. They also contend that the INS has violated the regulations by not issuing asylee visas to applicants in the order of their priority dates. The plaintiffs contend that, in part because of mismanagement, there is currently a backlog of more than 60,000 asylee adjustment applicants, which translates into more than a six-year wait for adjustment.

The plaintiffs also challenge the INS's requirement that asylee adjustment applicants pay a fee to renew their employment authorization documents (EADs) every year, since employment authorization is inherent in asylee status. They also challenge other costs resulting from the long delays in asylee adjustment, such as the costs of multiple fingerprinting and medical examinations. The plaintiffs are represented by the American Immigration Law Foundation, the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, and the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney, LLP.

Ngwanyia v. Ashcroft, No. 02-CV-502 RHK/JMM (D.Minn., filed Mar. 4, 2002).