20-4243 Donnelly v. CARRP In the United States Court of Appeals FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT AUGUST TERM 2021 No. 20-4243 PATRICK J. DONNELLY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. CONTROLLED APPLICATION REVIEW AND RESOLUTION PROGRAM UNIT, UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, THOMAS CIOPPA, DISTRICT DIRECTOR OF THE NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, UR M. JADDOU, DIRECTOR OF THE UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, MERRICK B. GARLAND, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondents-Appellees. * On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ARGUED: FEBRUARY 28, 2022 DECIDED: JUNE 14, 2022 * The Clerk of Court is directed to amend the caption as set forth above. Before: WALKER, MENASHI, and LEE, Circuit Judges. Petitioner-Appellant Patrick J. Donnelly brought this action seeking review of the denial of his application for naturalization in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York under 8 U.S.C. § 1421(c). The district court dismissed the case for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction because Donnelly had failed to attend an agency hearing to review the denial and, according to the district court, § 1421(c)’s exhaustion requirement, which included the hearing, was jurisdictional. We disagree that § 1421(c) imposes a jurisdictional requirement. We hold that it is instead a mandatory claim-processing rule. However, we agree with the district court that Donnelly did not satisfy § 1421(c)’s exhaustion requirement. Because the government properly raised Donnelly’s failure to exhaust, § 1421(c) precludes his claim. Donnelly therefore failed to state a claim, and we affirm the judgment of the district court on that ground. EAMONN DORNAN, Dornan & Associates PLLC, Yonkers, NY (Gerard G. McCabe, FG McCabe & Associates, New York, NY, on the brief), for Petitioner-Appellant. JESSICA F. ROSENBAUM, Assistant United States Attorney (Benjamin H. Torrance, Assistant United States Attorney, on the brief), for Audrey Strauss, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, New York, NY, for Respondents-Appellees. 2 20-4243 Donnelly v. CARRP MENASHI, Circuit Judge: In 2009, Petitioner-Appellant Patrick J. Donnelly filed an application for naturalization with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), one of the respondents-appellees in this case. Nine years later, after a convoluted series of proceedings, his application was denied when USCIS determined that he was ineligible for naturalization. Donnelly filed an administrative appeal, and in response the agency sent him a notice to appear at a hearing pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1447(a). After Donnelly failed to appear, the agency affirmed the denial of his application. Donnelly brought this action seeking review in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging, among other things, that the agency failed to follow its own procedures in denying his application. The district court held that, by not attending the hearing, Donnelly failed to exhaust his administrative remedies as required by 8 U.S.C. § 1421(c). Donnelly v. CARRP, 503 F. Supp. 3d 100, 105 (S.D.N.Y. 2020). Because the district court held …
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