USCA11 Case: 21-10835 Date Filed: 01/07/2022 Page: 1 of 17 [DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 21-10835 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ ADRIAN MOJICA MORALES, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus ACTING SECRETARY, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, DIRECTOR, NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER, U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, ACTING DIRECTOR, U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, ACTING DIRECTOR OF U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT, ACTING MIAMI FIELD OFFICE DIRECTOR, U.S. USCA11 Case: 21-10835 Date Filed: 01/07/2022 Page: 2 of 17 2 Opinion of the Court 21-10835 CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, Defendants-Appellees. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 2:20-cv-14220-AMC ____________________ Before LUCK, LAGOA, and HULL, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Plaintiff-Appellant Adrian Mojica Morales appeals the dis- trict court’s dismissal of his complaint seeking judicial review of the Department of Homeland Security’s (“DHS”) termination of his status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (“DACA”). Mojica Morales sued under the Administrative Proce- dure Act (“APA”). The district court dismissed his complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and, alternatively, based on col- lateral estoppel. After review, we conclude that the district court had subject matter jurisdiction over Mojica Morales’s complaint, but we affirm because his complaint failed to state a claim. USCA11 Case: 21-10835 Date Filed: 01/07/2022 Page: 3 of 17 21-10835 Opinion of the Court 3 I. OVERVIEW OF DACA On June 15, 2012, then-Secretary of DHS Janet Napolitano announced the program now known as DACA. DACA makes available “deferred action”—a non-binding decision to forbear from seeking one’s removal—to certain young people brought to this country as children. DHS administers its DACA program through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”). DHS’s “DACA Memorandum instructs [ICE] to exercise prosecutorial discretion on an individual basis . . . by deferring ac- tion for a period of two years, subject to renewal.” Dep’t of Home- land Sec. v. Regents of the Univ. of Cal., 591 U.S. ___, 140 S. Ct. 1891, 1902 (2020) (quotation marks and brackets omitted). It also “directs [USCIS] to accept applications to determine whether these individuals qualify for work authorization during this period of de- ferred action.” Id. (quotation marks omitted). After a background check is completed, successful reques- tors, at the discretion of USCIS, receive deferred immigration ac- tion for two years, subject to renewal. USCIS has also provided its officers with procedural guidance regarding DACA adjudications and terminations through its Standard Operating Procedures (“SOP”). The DACA SOP details how and when to terminate a noncitizen’s DACA status in different circumstances. Generally, USCIS officers issue a Notice of Intent to Terminate (“NOIT”) to individuals who were mistakenly or wrongfully provided DACA status. However, when an individual who already has DACA USCA11 Case: 21-10835 Date Filed: 01/07/2022 Page: 4 of 17 4 Opinion of the Court 21-10835 status is later determined to be an Egregious Public Safety (“EPS”) concern, the DACA SOP provides for termination without issu- …
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals