UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ABDO LUFTU ALI, Plaintiff, Vv. Civil Case No. 20-01436 (RJL) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Nee Nee Nee Ne Ne ee” ee ee ee” ee” Defendant. MEMORAN f UM OPINION (Marchf Y, 2021) [Dkt. # 6] Plaintiff Abdo Ali (“plaintiff’ or “Ali’”) brings this action under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) against the U.S. Department of State (“State Department” or “defendant”), seeking an order setting aside defendant’s revocation of Ali’s U.S. passport. Compl. [Dkt #1] § 1. Presently before the Court is defendant’s Motion to Dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), in which defendant argues that plaintiff fails to state a claim under the APA because there is an alternative remedy available under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (“INA”). Defendant’s Mot. to Dismiss Pl.’s Compl. (“Def.’s Mot.) [Dkt. #6-1] at 1. Upon consideration of the parties’ pleadings, relevant law, the entire record herein, and for the reasons stated below, I agree and therefore GRANT defendant’s motion. BACKGROUND Ali currently resides in Oxford, Mississippi, but he was born in Yemen in 1979. l At the time, Ali’s father was a U.S. citizen, having naturalized approximately ten and a half years earlier in January 1969. Compl. 48. In 1990, Ali was first issued a U.S. passport under Section 301(g) of the INA on the grounds that he was a child of a U.S. citizen, who, prior to Ali’s birth, had been present in the U.S. for at least ten years, including at least five while he was older than fourteen. Jd. 410. Ali entered the United States in 1994 and was issued passport renewals in 1999 and 2009. Id. § 13. Because passports “may be issued only to a U.S. national,” 22 C.F.R. § 51.2(a), the initial issuance of Ali’s passport and the subsequent renewals necessarily constituted findings that Ali was a U.S. national. See Compl. ff 14, 19. On January 8, 2019, however, the State Department revoked Ali’s passport on the ground that he was not a USS. national. Id. ¥ 15; see also 22 C.F.R. § 51.62(b) (“The Department may revoke a passport when the Department has determined that the bearer of the passport is not a U.S. national.”). In a letter to Ali, the State Department explained its decision by noting that sometime after the 2009 renewal, “[a]n investigation .. . revealed that [Ali’s] father was not physically present in the United States for ten years before [Ali’s] birth,” as was then required by Section 301(g) of the INA. See Ex. A to Pl.’s Opp. to Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss (“PI.’s Opp.’”) [Dkt. #9-1] at 1.! The letter cited documentation supporting its position but lacked any explanation as to why the State Department had initially issued Ali a passport and subsequently renewed it twice. Jd.; Compl. 418. On May 30, 2020, Ali filed this suit under the APA, 5 U.S.C. § 701 et seq., ' No hearing was held on the decision to revoke Ali’s passport …
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