Freeman
Freeman v. United States District Court for the District of Oregon
Opinion
Opinion
ORDER
In Freeman v. Gonzales, 444 F.3d 1031 (9th Cir.2006), we decided that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) erred in two respects in refusing to adjudicate Carla Freeman’s application for adjustment of status. First, we decided that DHS was incorrect that entry into the United States through the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) precluded Freeman from availing herself of the procedural protections afforded to other applicants for adjustment of status. Second, we held that an alien whose citizen spouse dies before DHS adjudicates' a properly filed immediate relative petition and application for adjustment of status remains an immediate relative as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1151 (b)(2)(A)® and is thus statutorily eligible for adjustment of status. We remanded to DHS for further proceedings.
On remand, DHS adjudicated and denied Carla Freeman’s adjustment of status application in a decision dated October 16, 2006. Freeman filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in our court, arguing that DHS’s articulated reasons for its denial of her adjustment of status application were already litigated in this case and are therefore res judicata and governed by the law of the case. Freeman also…