Cooper v. Fitzgerald
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
266 F.R.D. 86 (2010)
Facts
Karpeh and Kelly Cooper and five other individuals (plaintiffs) filed suit in federal district court against District Director Karen Fitzgerald of the Philadelphia District of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) (defendant) and other senior-level federal-government officials (defendants) to compel action on the plaintiffs’ applications for immigration benefits pending before the USCIS. The defendants filed a motion to sever the Coopers’ claims and to dismiss the remaining plaintiffs’ claims. The defendants argued that Acting Director Kathleen Bausman of the USCIS Philadelphia field office was responsible for ensuring the timely adjudication of all immigration applications held by the field office. Bausman filed a declaration attesting to the same and noted that none of the plaintiffs’ applications had been delayed due to name and background checks. Additionally, the defendants claimed that two different immigration applications were involved, I-130s and I-485s, each in a different stage of the review process. Consequently, the defendants claimed that the plaintiffs did not satisfy the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 20(a) test for permissive joinder of claims.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Kelly, J.)
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