USCA11 Case: 21-13709 Date Filed: 06/03/2022 Page: 1 of 9 [DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 21-13709 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ VICTOR MANUEL FLORES GUERECA, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus ACTING DIRECTOR, U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, NATIONAL BENEFITS CENTER, Defendants-Appellees. USCA11 Case: 21-13709 Date Filed: 06/03/2022 Page: 2 of 9 2 Opinion of the Court 21-13709 ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 8:21-cv-01439-SDM-AEP ____________________ Before JORDAN, NEWSOM, and TJOFLAT, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Victor Manuel Flores Guereca, a native and citizen of Mex- ico, appeals the District Court’s dismissal of his complaint for de- claratory relief against the Acting Director and Deputy Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) for denying his application for adjustment of status. Flores Guereca argues that the District Court’s dismissal of his complaint inflicted an actual and concrete injury on him because it eliminat- ed his ability to stay in the United States and adjust his unlawful status. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. I. Flores Guereca is an undocumented immigrant who en- tered the United States in February 1998. He married his spouse, another Mexican national, in September 2015. Today, they live in Florida with their 23-year-old son. In June 2019, Flores Guereca and his wife sought to be- come lawful permanent residents of the United States. His wife’s USCA11 Case: 21-13709 Date Filed: 06/03/2022 Page: 3 of 9 21-13709 Opinion of the Court 3 application claimed that she was entitled to adjust her status be- cause her father, a lawful permanent resident, filed a petition to have her recognized as his relative. Flores Guereca’s application claimed that he was a derivative beneficiary of his father-in-law’s petition. In January 2020, USCIS denied his application, stating that he was ineligible to have his residency status adjusted. He filed for reconsideration in February 2020. USCIS denied this mo- tion in August 2020. In November 2020, USCIS approved his wife’s application for adjustment of status. In response, Flores Guereca filed a complaint against USCIS in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida on June 14, 2021. He alleged that USCIS failed to com- ply with the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), and that its denial of his request for adjustment of status was unlawful. In July 2021, he was served with a Notice to Appear in a removal proceeding, charging him as being present in the United States without being admitted or paroled. According to the Gov- ernment, that proceeding is currently pending in Orlando, Flori- da. Following that notice, USCIS filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). USCIS argued that because Flores Guereca could challenge the denial of his motion for adjustment of status in the removal proceedings, the denial was no longer “final agen- cy action,” and the District Court lacked subject …
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