Dzu Tran v. Janet Napolitano

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiffs Dzu Cong Tran, Daniel Mai Dinh, and Austin Peter Tran are U.S. citizens who were engaged to Vietnamese citizens. Plaintiffs appeal the district court’s dismissal of their Complaint challenging consular officials’ refusal to issue K-l visas to their fiancées. Plaintiffs sought various forms of relief that would change the K-l procedures of the State Department and Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. They also sought damages, based on a theory of unjust enrichment, for filing fees they allege were unlawfully required. While this appeal was pending, however, two of the three plaintiffs married their fiancées. The third plaintiff, Dzu Tran, broke up with his fiancée. Accordingly, Plaintiffs’ claims seeking to change the K-1 procedures are moot and must be dismissed. We conclude that the district court properly dismissed their claim for monetary relief and affirm that dismissal.

The mootness doctrine, embedded in Article III of the Constitution, requires that a case or controversy exist at all stages of federal court proceedings. U.S. Parole Comm’n v. Geraghty, 445 U.S. 388, 397 , 100 S.Ct. 1202 , 63 L.Ed.2d 479 (1980). We…