NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 20a0500n.06 No. 19-2148 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED DED RRANXBURGAJ, ) Aug 26, 2020 ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk Plaintiff-Appellant, ) ) v. ) ON APPEAL FROM THE ) UNITED STATES DISTRICT CHAD WOLF1, et al., ) COURT FOR THE EASTERN ) DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN Defendants-Appellees. ) ) ) BEFORE: GIBBONS, GRIFFIN, and THAPAR, Circuit Judges. GRIFFIN, Circuit Judge. Plaintiff Ded Rranxburgaj filed this suit after United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) denied his request for a temporary stay of his removal order. He claims that ICE’s decision to deny his application on procedural grounds was contrary to law. However, the district court dismissed Rranxburgaj’s complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, and although our reasoning differs, we agree that the lower court lacked jurisdiction and affirm. I. In 2001, plaintiff Ded Rranxburgaj and his wife Flora Rranxburgaj fled their native country of Albania and sought asylum in the United States. However, their asylum application was denied, and in 2006 an Immigration Judge ordered them removed. Three years later, the 1 Chad Wolf, as the acting Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security has been automatically substituted as a defendant pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d). No. 19-2148, Rranxburgaj v. Wolf, et al. Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed their appeal. But while those proceedings were ongoing, Flora developed multiple sclerosis. As a consequence, the government placed the Rranxburgajs under orders of supervision. See 8 C.F.R. § 241.5. Thus, while the government could still execute their removal orders at any time, the Rranxburgajs were allowed to continue living in the United States. Things changed in October 2017 when plaintiff reported for one of his regular check-ins with ICE in Detroit, Michigan. An agent with ICE told Rranxburgaj that the agency intended to remove him in January 2018 and instructed him to purchase a plane ticket. Plaintiff complied, purchasing airfare to Albania with a January 25, 2018 departure date, which he presented to ICE at a subsequent check-in on November 30, 2017. About a week later, Rranxburgaj filed an application for a temporary stay of removal. Specifically, he requested a one-year stay of removal, citing Flora’s “advanced” multiple sclerosis. He explained that Flora was “entirely dependent on [him] for everything, including the most basic needs.” If he were removed, Rranxburgaj stated, it would “be a death sentence for [his] wife.” The application included his wife’s medical records, thirteen years’ of tax returns, and more than eighty letters of support. Weeks passed, but ICE did not act on Rranxburgaj’s application. Less than three weeks before his scheduled removal, Rranxburgaj attended another check-in, and yet ICE did not address his application. Instead, the agency told him only to return for another check-in, eight days before his removal date. Rather than return for that last check-in, Rranxburgaj moved himself and his family into the Central United Methodist Church in Detroit, Michigan and claimed sanctuary. Church leaders held a press conference, and Rranxburgaj ...
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