RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION Pursuant to Sixth Circuit I.O.P. 32.1(b) File Name: 22a0027p.06 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT ┐ EDMER EUDULIO BARRIOS GARCIA (21-1037); │ DOUGLAS ARGUIJO (21-1056); ARDILES YASDAMI │ MENDEZ MENDEZ and LIMNY ERIVELBA LOPEZ │ Nos. 21-1037/1056/1063 MAZARIEGOS (21-1063), > │ Plaintiffs-Appellants, │ │ v. │ │ U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY et al., │ Defendants-Appellees. │ ┘ ┐ SUDHABEN PANKAJKUMAR PATEL, PANKAJKUMAR │ ISHWARLAL PATEL, NIKIBEN PANKAJKUMAR PATEL, │ and SAHILKUMAR PANKAJKUMAR PATEL (21-5022), │ Plaintiffs-Appellants, > No. 21-5022 │ │ v. │ │ TRACY RENAUD, Senior Official Performing the │ Duties of the Director for U.S. Citizenship and │ Immigration Services, │ Defendant-Appellee. │ ┘ Case Nos. 21-1037, 21-1056, and 21-1063 Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids; Nos. 1:20-cv-00457; 1:20-cv-00378; 1:20-cv00460—Phillip J. Green, Magistrate Judge. Case No. 21-5022 Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky at London; 6:20-cv-00101—Karen K. Caldwell, District Judge. Argued: July 21, 2021 Decided and Filed: February 10, 2022 Before: SILER, MOORE, and DONALD, Circuit Judges. Nos. 21-1037/1056/1063/5022 Barrios Garcia et al. v. DHS et al. Page 2 _________________ COUNSEL ARGUED: Bradley B. Banias, WASDEN BANIAS, LLC, Charleston, South Carolina, for all Appellants. Elizabeth R. Veit, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellees in 21-1037 and 21-1063. T. Monique Peoples, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellees in 21-1056 and 21-5022. ON BRIEF: Bradley B. Banias, WASDEN BANIAS, LLC, Charleston, South Carolina, for all Appellants. James Betzold, BETZOLD LAW PLC, Holland, Michigan, for Appellants in 21- 1037, 21-1056, and 21-1063. T. Monique Peoples, Elizabeth R. Veit, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellees. _______________________ AMENDED OPINION _______________________ KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. Edmer Eudulio Barrios Garcia, Doublas Arguijo, Ardiles Yasdami Mendez Mendez, and Sudhaben Pankajkumar Patel are noncitizens. They were victims of grave crimes; they cooperated with law enforcement. They applied for U- visas and authorization to work; Mendez Mendez and Patel sought derivative U-visas and work authorization for some of their family members. These noncitizens have waited years for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)—a division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—to adjudicate their applications. Plaintiffs have been and remain unable to obtain lawful employment, to visit their family members who live abroad, or to attain deferred- action status that would protect them from removal from this country. Plaintiffs sued USCIS and DHS, alleging that the agencies have unreasonably delayed placing the principal applicants on the U-visa waitlist and adjudicating Plaintiffs’ work-authorization applications. While this appeal pended, USCIS announced a new program for persons with pending U-visa applications known as the “Bona Fide Determination Process.” The parties contest whether this nascent program moots Plaintiffs’ claims. We must decide whether this case is moot, whether the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) allows the federal courts to review Plaintiffs’ two claims, the scope of our review, and the claims’ sufficiency. We hold that the issuance of the Bona …
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