UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ) AFGHAN AND IRAQI ALLIES UNDER ) SERIOUS THREAT BECAUSE OF THEIR ) FAITHFUL SERVICE TO THE UNITED ) STATES, ON THEIR OWN AND ON ) BEHALF OF OTHERS SIMILARLY ) SITUATED, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 18-cv-01388 (TSC) ) MICHAEL R. POMPEO, et. al., ) ) Defendants. ) ) MEMORANDUM OPINION Plaintiffs represent a class of individuals who, despite real and significant personal risk, aided the United States in its time of need and now look to the United States for protection for themselves and their immediate family members. Plaintiffs are five anonymous Afghan or Iraqi nationals seeking refuge in the United States. They allege that they “provided faithful and valuable service to the US government or its allied forces” in their capacities as employees of or on behalf of the United States government over the past several years. (ECF. No. 23 (“Am. Compl.”) at ¶¶ 1, 56, 58, 60, 62.) They claim that because of their service, they “face an ongoing serious threat to their lives in their home countries.” (Id.) Because of these threats, they submitted Special Immigrant Visa (“SIV”) applications to the U.S. Department of State, seeking lawful admission into the United States. (Id. at ¶¶ 13–17.) Two Plaintiffs submitted their applications in 2013, one in 2015, and the other two in 2016. (Id.) Plaintiffs claim that at the time they filed this action on June 12, 2018, none of their SIV applications had received a final decision. (Id. at ¶¶ 57, 59, 61, 63, 65.) 1 Plaintiffs bring this case on behalf of themselves and a class of all people who have applied for an Afghan or Iraqi SIV pursuant to the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-8, 123 Stat. 807 (“AAPA”), or the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007, Pub. L. No. 110-181, 122 Stat. 395 (“RCIA”), by submitting an application for Chief of Mission (“COM”) approval, and whose applications have been awaiting government action for longer than 9 months. 1 (ECF No. 3 (“Mot. Class Certification”) at 1.) They claim that Defendants have failed to process and adjudicate their SIV applications within a reasonable time. (Am. Compl. at ¶ 1.) Plaintiffs moved, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65, “for a preliminary injunction order declaring unreasonable Defendants’ delay in the processing of Plaintiffs’ SIV applications and ordering Defendants to (1) submit within 30 days a plan for promptly processing and adjudicating the applications, which should be developed with Plaintiffs’ input, and (2) submit progress reports every 30 days thereafter.” (ECF. No. 34 (“Pls.’ PI Mot.”) at 1.) 2 During the July 26, 2019 motions hearing, the court consolidated the hearing on the preliminary injunction with the “trial on the merits,” pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(a)(2); thereby converting Plaintiffs’ motion to one for summary judgment. Upon consideration of Plaintiffs’ motion and the parties’ briefs in support thereof and in opposition thereto, ...
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