LAWSUIT CHALLENGES LEGALITY OF KEN CUCCINELLI’S INSTALLATION AS ACTING DIRECTOR OF USCIS

Plaintiffs seek order requiring USCIS to prevent changes under Cuccinelli’s leadership that would impede citizenship for low-income applicants
Share
For Immediate Release
Contact
Michelle Boykins (202) 296-2300, ext. 0144 mboykins@advancingjustice-aajc.org

Washington, D.C. — Last night, organizations and communities challenging changes to the naturalization fee waiver process asked a federal court to immediately bar USCIS from implementing those changes until the lawsuit is resolved. They also added new claims to the case, asking the court to find that Ken Cuccinelli’s installation as acting head of USCIS was unlawful and that the proposed new rules are invalid as a result.

Cuccinelli was placed in the role of acting director in violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA), which governs the process for filling a vacant executive branch position that is subject to Senate confirmation. The FVRA has been in the news lately as it also governs who will succeed Kevin McAleenan as acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

“Congress passed the FVRA to ensure that the President could not prevent the Senate from playing its constitutional role as a check on the executive branch when vacancies arise,” said Rachel Goodman, Counsel at Protect Democracy. “It gave the FVRA teeth by making all actions taken by illegally-appointed officials void.”

“The Trump Administration is trying to do an end-run around the FVRA to implement its radical and elitist immigration policies,” said John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC.

The FVRA allows the president to choose an acting official who is either an experienced manager at the agency in question, or any person who has been confirmed by the Senate for any role in the federal government. If the President does not name an acting official, then, by default, the existing deputy to the vacant office becomes the acting official.

At the time that Cuccinelli’s predecessor, USCIS Director Francis Cissna, resigned in June, Cuccinelli satisfied none of these criteria. In fact, he had never worked in the federal government. After it became clear that Senate Republicans would not confirm Cuccinelli as USCIS Director, the administration invented a new position at USCIS—“principal deputy director”—installed Cuccinelli in that new position, and then claimed that his position made him the acting director. This violates the FVRA and the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Plaintiffs in this suit are the City of Seattle and five naturalization legal service providers who serve low-income, citizenship-eligible legal permanent residents: Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), Central American Resource Center of California (CARECEN), Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), OneAmerica, and Self-Help for the Elderly. They amended their complaint yesterday to add claims under the FVRA and the Appointments Clause and asked the court to issue a nationwide preliminary injunction barring changes to the naturalization fee waiver process until the lawsuit is resolved.

Plaintiffs are represented by Protect Democracy, Advancing Justice | AAJC, the Seattle City Attorney’s Office, and Mayer Brown LLP.

The new fee waiver rules, announced October 25 and slated to go into effect December 2, will severely curtail naturalization applications from low-income applicants by making it much harder to apply for a fee waiver. Recent research from Stanford University’s Immigration Policy Lab suggests that the new rules could reduce the number of naturalization applications filed each year by as much as 10 percent.

More information about the case is available at: https://advancingjustice-aajc.org/naturalization-lawsuit-city-seattle-v-dhs

The amended complaint can be found HERE.

The preliminary injunction motion can be found HERE.

###

Protect Democracy is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing American democracy from declining into a more authoritarian form of government.

Mayer Brown is a distinctively global law firm, uniquely positioned to advise the world’s leading companies and financial institutions on their most complex deals and disputes. The firm offers pro bono legal representation across the spectrum of public interest law, including in such areas as asylum and immigration, housing, public benefits, education, criminal justice reform, social finance and social entrepreneurs, and non-profit organizations.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC is a nonprofit organization with a mission to advance the civil and human rights for Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all.

The City of Seattle, Washington is Washington State’s largest city and the seat of King County. Seattle created its Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs (OIRA) in 2012 to improve the lives of Seattle’s immigrant families. OIRA funds and coordinates two naturalization programs, the New Citizen Campaign and the New Citizen Program, both aimed at helping the estimated 75,000 Seattle-area LPRs become U.S. citizens.

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) is the nation’s largest network of nonprofit immigration legal services programs. Its mission is to provide immigration legal services to low-income and vulnerable populations. In service of that mission. CLINIC provides materials, training, and funding to its members, including in particular local organizations that provide naturalization services.

Central American Resource Center of California (CARECEN) is the largest Central American immigrant rights organization in the country. Its mission is to empower Central Americans and all immigrants by defending human and civil rights, working for social and economic justice, and promoting cultural diversity. As part of this mission, CARECEN offers free legal assistance to eligible immigrants in order to help them apply for citizenship and become civically-engaged citizens.

Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is a national nonprofit that works with immigrants, community organizations, legal professionals, and policymakers to build a democratic society that values diversity and the rights of all people. Through community education programs, legal training & technical assistance, and policy development & advocacy, the ILRC protects and defends the fundamental rights of immigrant families and communities. As a key part of its mission, ILRC serves as the lead agency for the New Americans Campaign, a national campaign aimed at increasing the number of “new Americans” by ensuring access to the naturalization process and trusted legal assistance.

OneAmerica is the largest immigrant and refugee advocacy organization in Washington State. Its mission is to advance the fundamental principles of democracy and justice at the local, state, and national levels by building power within immigrant communities, and it focuses on helping eligible immigrants apply for citizenship and become civically engaged citizens.

Self-Help for the Elderly provides assistance and support for seniors throughout the San Francisco area. As a part of this mission, Self-Help serves as the lead agency for SF Pathways to Citizenship, a partnership between the City of San Francisco and six legal and social services providers. As the lead agency for SF Pathways to Citizenship over the last 5.5 years, Self-Help has been responsible for over 8,000 applications, over 60% of which were filed with fee waivers.