Rubio
Josaihas Apolinar Morales and Alla Tereshchenko v. Marco Rubio, in his official capacity as U.S. Secretary of State, and Robert Jachim, in his official capacity as Acting Director of
Opinion
Trial Court Opinion
facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 6 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007).
DISCUSSION
8 Following the denial of the visa petition, Plaintiffs invoke the Mandamus Act to 9 compel the agency to take action. The Mandamus Act confers jurisdiction over “any 10 action in the nature of mandamus to compel an officer or employee of the United States or any agency thereof to perform a duty owed to the plaintiff.” 28 U.S.C § 1361. However, mandamus relief requires an unperformed ministerial duty, not review of completed discretionary actions. Congress explicitly precludes judicial review of visa denials. See 6 U.S.C. § 236(f) (“Nothing in this section shall be construed to create or authorize a private right of action to challenge a decision of a consular officer or other United States official or employee to grant or deny a visa.”) The House Committee report confirms this intent: “our amendment will ensure that denials of visa petitions in our overseas posts will continue to be non-reviewable.” Homeland Security Act of 2002: Hearing and Markup on H.R. 5005 Before the House Comm. on…