Nightingale
Nightingale v. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Opinion
Trial Court Opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 ZACHARY NIGHTINGALE, et al., Case No. 19-cv-03512-WHO
Plaintiffs,
ORDER GRANTING CLASS
v. CERTIFICATION
U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION Re: Dkt. No. 28 SERVICES, et al., 11 Defendants.
12 INTRODUCTION Plaintiffs challenge the systematic delay noncitizens face in obtaining access to immigration case files maintained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), and its component agencies, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) (collectively “defendants”). These files, commonly referred to as Alien Registration Files (“A-Files”), contain documents relating to all interactions that a noncitizen has had with the immigration system, and therefore are critical to defending against removal or determining eligibility for immigration benefits. The only way a noncitizen can obtain an A-File is by submitting a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”)…