UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA RYAN CASTANEIRA, Plaintiff, v. Case No. 1:22-cv-01485-RCL ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, Secretary of Homeland Security, et al., Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION Plaintiff Ryan Castaneira, pro se, brings this action to challenge the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services's ("USCIS") and Department of Homeland Security's ("DHS") (collectively, "defendants") denial of his Form 1-130, Petition for Alien Relative ("1-130" or "petition"), filed on behalf of his Mexican national wife. See Am. Cornpl., ECF No. 15. Castaneira seeks, among other remedies, declaratory and injunctive relief that sets aside the decision by USCIS to deny his petition, see Decision Denying Petition ("Denial"), ECF No. 15-6, and declares that the Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act of2006 ("AWA"), Pub. L. No. 109-248, 120 Stat. 587, does not apply to his 1-130 proceedings; or, if the AWA does apply, compels defendants to review his petition under a "preponderance of the evidence" standard instead of a "beyond any reasonable doubt" standard. Arn. Cornpl., Prayer for Relief,r,r a-1. Defendants move to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(l) and 12(b)(6) for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. See Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss Arn. Cornpl., ECF No. 18. Upon consideration of the parties' filings, the applicable law, and the facts of the case, the Court agrees with defendants and 1 concludes that it has no jurisdiction to review Castaneira's challenges to USCIS's determination and that Castaneira has failed to state a plausible claim that the AWA does not apply to his proceedings. Accordingly, defendants' motion to dismiss will be GRANTED. I. BACKGROUND A. Statutory and Regulatory Background Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, including spouses and children, receive certain preferential treatment under the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"). See, e.g., 8 U.S.C. § 1151 (b )(2)(A)(i) (providing that immigration of immediate relatives is not subject to numerical limitations). As relevant here, a U.S. citizen may file a Form I-130 petition with USCIS to classify the petitioner's foreign national spouse or child as an immediate relative to allow the beneficiary to immigrate to the United States. See 8 U.S.C. § 1154(a)(l)(A)(i); 8 C.F.R. §§ 204.l(a)(l), 204.2. In 2006, Congress passed the AWA, which, among other things, amended the INA to provide that USCIS must deny a U.S. citizen's Form I-130 petition if the petitioner "has been convicted of a specified offense against a minor, unless the Secretary of Homeland Security, in the Secretary's sole and unreviewable discretion, determines that the citizen poses no risk" to the petitioner's beneficiary. 8 U.S.C. § 1154(a)(l)(A)(viii)(I). Congress has authorized USCIS by statute to make such determinations for the Secretary. See 6 U.S.C. § 271(b)(l). The provision of the AWA governing those determinations cross-references another statutory provision for its definition of "specified offense against a minor," which includes the following: (A) An offense (unless committed by a parent or guardian) involving kidnapping. (B) An offense (unless committed by a parent or guardian) involving false imprisonment. (C) Solicitation …
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