Free Answer to Complaint - District Court of California - California

Case 5:07-cv-04737-JW

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Filed 01/14/2008

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1 JOSEPH P. RUSSONIELLO, CSBN 44332 United States Attorney 2 JOANN M. SWANSON, CSBN 88143 Assistant United States Attorney 3 Chief, Civil Division MELANIE L. PROCTOR, CSBN 228971 4 Assistant United States Attorney 5 6 7 Attorneys for Defendants 8 9 10 11 12 JIN SU, 13 14 v. Plaintiff, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN JOSE DIVISION ) ) No. C 07-4737 JW ) ) ) ANSWER TO COMPLAINT ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) 450 Golden Gate Avenue, Box 36055 San Francisco, California 94102 Telephone: (415) 436-6730 FAX: (415) 436-6927

15 MICHAEL CHERTOFF, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; 16 ROBERT S. MUELLER, Director of Federal Bureau of Investigations, 17 Defendants 18 19

COME NOW the Defendants, by and through their counsel, Joseph P. Russoniello, United States

20 Attorney, and Melanie L. Proctor, Assistant United States Attorney, and in answer to the Plaintiff's 21 Complaint ("Complaint"), set forth the following: 22 1. The allegations in Paragraph One consist entirely of Plaintiff's legal characterizations, to which

23 no response is necessary. To the extent a response is required, Defendants deny the allegations therein. 24 25 26 27 2. Defendants admit the allegations in Paragraph Two. 3. Defendants admit the allegations in Paragraph Three. 4. Defendants deny the allegations in Paragraph Four. 5. The allegations in Paragraph Five consist entirely of Plaintiff's legal characterizations, to which

28 no response is necessary. To the extent a response is required, Defendants deny the allegations therein.
ANSWER C07-4737 JW

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6. The allegations in Paragraph Six consist entirely of Plaintiff's legal characterizations, to which

2 no response is necessary. To the extent a response is required, Defendants deny the allegations therein. 3 4 5 7. Defendants deny the allegations in Paragraph Seven. 8. Defendants admit allegations in Paragraph Eight. 9. Defendants admit the first sentence in Paragraph Nine, but aver that the processing times apply

6 only to cases where all background checks and investigations are completed. Defendants admit that 7 Plaintiff's case has remained pending for since the date of filing; however, Defendants aver that her 8 case was subject to a Congressionally mandated cap of 10,000 applications per year, and thus, her case 9 was not eligible for adjudication until the cap was lifted on May 11, 2005. 10 11 10. Defendants deny the allegations in Paragraph Ten. 11. Defendants deny the allegations in Paragraph Eleven. Defendants aver that Plaintiff has been

12 free to apply for a refugee travel document which would allow her to travel from and return to the 13 United States. Further, an asylee in the United States is entitled to a work authorization upon proper 14 filing of an application. 15 16 17 12. Defendants deny the allegations in Paragraph Twelve. AFFIRMATIVE AND/OR OTHER DEFENSES All allegations not here before specifically admitted, denied, or modified, are hereby denied. For

18 further and separate answer, Defendants allege as follows: 19 20 21 22 23 24 FIRST DEFENSE The Court lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action. SECOND DEFENSE The Complaint fails to state a claim against the Defendants upon which relief can be granted. THIRD DEFENSE No acts or omissions by the United States or its employees were the proximate cause of any injury

25 or damages to the Plaintiff. 26 27 FOURTH DEFENSE At all times alleged in the complaint, Defendants were acting with good faith, with justification,

28 and pursuant to authority.
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FIFTH DEFENSE The Defendants are processing the application referred to in the Complaint to the extent possible

3 at this time. Accordingly, no relief as prayed for is warranted. 4 WHEREFORE, Defendants pray that Plaintiff takes nothing by reason of her suit herein, that

5 judgment be rendered in favor of Defendants, for costs of suit herein incurred, and for such other and 6 further relief as this court may deem proper. 7 Date: January 14, 2008 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
ANSWER C07-4737 JW

Respectfully submitted, JOSEPH P. RUSSONIELLO United States Attorney /s/ MELANIE L. PROCTOR Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendants

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