Free Answer to Complaint - District Court of California - California

Case 5:07-cv-04750-JF

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1 SCOTT N. SCHOOLS, SC SBN 9990 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 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 SAN JOSE DIVISION 11 BABAK RAZAVI, 12 MELISSA GIBSON, 13 14 v. Plaintiffs, ) ) No. C 07-4750 JF ) ) ) ANSWER ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) 450 Golden Gate Avenue, Box 36055 San Francisco, California 94102 Telephone: (415) 436-6730 FAX: (415) 436-6927

15 FRANK SICILIANO, in his Official Capacity, Officer in Charge, U.S. Citizenship and 16 Immigration Services, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, San Jose, California, et al., 17 Defendants. 18 ) 19 20 21

The Defendants hereby submit their answer to Plaintiffs' Petition for Writ of Mandamus. INTRODUCTION 1. Paragraph One consists of Plaintiffs' characterizations of this action for which no answer is

22 necessary; however, to the extent a response is deemed to be required, the Defendants deny the 23 allegations therein. 24 2. The first sentence in Paragraph Two consists of Plaintiffs' characterizations of this action for

25 which no answer is necessary. Defendants admit the remaining allegations in this paragraph. 26 3. Defendants admit the first sentence in Paragraph Three; however, Defendants are without

27 sufficient information to admit or deny the remaining allegations in this paragraph, and on that basis, 28 deny them.
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4. Defendants deny the allegations in Paragraph Four. JURISDICTION AND VENUE 5. Paragraph Five consists of Plaintiffs' allegations regarding jurisdiction, to which no responsive

4 pleading is required; however, to the extent a responsive pleading is deemed necessary, Defendants 5 deny that this Court has jurisdiction under any of the provisions cited in Paragraph Five. 6 6. Paragraph Six consists of Plaintiffs' allegations regarding venue, to which no responsive

7 pleading is required. Defendants aver that unless specifically provided by law, aliens have no 8 residence in the United States for venue purposes. 9 10 INTRADISTRICT ASSIGNMENT 7. Paragraph Seven consists of Plaintiffs' allegations regarding intradistrict assignment, to which

11 no responsive pleading is required. 12 13 PARTIES 8. Defendants admit the first sentence in Paragraph Eight; however, Defendants are without

14 sufficient information to admit or deny Plaintiffs' residence, and on that basis, deny the first part of 15 the second sentence. Defendants admit the remaining allegations in Paragraph Eight. 16 9. Defendants admit the first sentence in Paragraph Nine. Defendants are without sufficient

17 information to admit or deny Plaintiffs' residence, and on that basis, deny the second sentence. 18 Defendants admit the remaining allegations in Paragraph Nine. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 10. Defendants admit the allegations in Paragraph Ten. 11. Defendants admit the allegations in Paragraph Eleven. 12. Defendants admit the allegations in Paragraph Twelve. 13. Defendants admit the allegations in Paragraph Thirteen. 14. Defendants deny the allegations in Paragraph Fourteen. 15. Defendants admit the allegations in Paragraph Fifteen. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS 16. Paragraph Sixteen consists of Plaintiffs' characterizations of this action for which no answer

27 is necessary; however, to the extent a response is deemed to be required, the Defendants deny the 28 allegations therein.
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17. Defendants are without sufficient information to admit or deny the allegations in Paragraph

2 Seventeen, and on that basis, deny them. 3 4 5 18. Defendants admit the allegations in Paragraph Eighteen. 19. Defendants admit the allegations in Paragraph Nineteen. 20. Defendants admit the first sentence in Paragraph Twenty; however, Defendants are without

6 sufficient information to admit or deny the remaining allegations in this paragraph, and on that basis, 7 deny them. 8 21. Defendants deny the first sentence in Paragraph Twenty-One. Defendants admit the second

9 sentence. Defendants are without sufficient information to admit or deny the remaining allegations in 10 this paragraph. 11 22. Defendants are without sufficient information to admit or deny the allegations in Paragraph

12 Twenty-Two, and on that basis, deny them. 13 23. Defendants are without sufficient information to admit or deny the allegations in Paragraph

14 Twenty-Three, and on that basis, deny them. 15 16 24. Defendants admit the allegations in Paragraph Twenty-Four. 25. Defendants are without sufficient information to admit or deny the allegations in Paragraph

17 Twenty-Five, and on that basis, deny them. 18 26. Defendants are without sufficient information to admit or deny the allegations in Paragraph

19 Twenty-Six, and on that basis, deny them. 20 27. Defendants are without sufficient information to admit or deny the allegations in Paragraph

21 Twenty-Seven, and on that basis, deny them. 22 23 24 25 28. Defendants deny the allegations in Paragraph Twenty-Eight. 29. Defendants deny the allegations in Paragraph Twenty-Nine. CAUSES OF ACTION 30. Defendants re-allege and incorporate by reference the answers to the allegations set forth in

26 Paragraphs One through Twenty-Nine, inclusive, as though fully set forth herein 27 31. Paragraph Thirty-One consists of Plaintiffs' characterizations of this action for which no

28 answer is necessary; however, to the extent a response is deemed to be required, the Defendants deny
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1 the allegations therein. 2 32. Defendants are without sufficient information to admit or deny the allegations regarding

3 Plaintiff Razavi's eligibility for the status he seeks, and on that basis, deny the allegations. 4 33. Defendants admit the allegations in Paragraph Thirty-Three with the exception that Plaintiffs'

5 applications were filed on September 29, 2003. 6 34. Paragraph Thirty-Four consists of Plaintiffs' characterizations of this action for which no

7 answer is necessary; however, to the extent a response is deemed to be required, the Defendants deny 8 the allegations therein. 9 35. Paragraph Thirty-Five consists of Plaintiffs' characterizations of this action for which no

10 answer is necessary; however, to the extent a response is deemed to be required, the Defendants deny 11 the allegations therein. 12 13 14 15 36. Defendants deny the allegations in Paragraph Thirty-Six. 37. Defendants deny the allegations in Paragraph Thirty-Seven. PRAYER FOR RELIEF The remaining allegations consists of Plaintiffs' prayer for relief, to which no admission or denial

16 is required; to the extent a responsive pleading is deemed to be required, Defendants deny these 17 paragraphs. 18 19 AFFIRMATIVE AND/OR OTHER DEFENSES All allegations not here before specifically admitted, denied, or modified are hereby denied. For

20 further and separate answer, Defendants allege as follows: 21 22 23 24 25 26 FIRST DEFENSE The Court lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action SECOND DEFENSE The Petition 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

27 or damages to the Plaintiffs. 28 ///
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FOURTH DEFENSE At all times alleged in the complaint, Defendants were acting with good faith, with justification,

3 and pursuant to authority. 4 5 FIFTH DEFENSE The Defendants are processing the applications referred to in the Petition to the extent possible at

6 this time. Accordingly, no relief as prayed for is warranted. 7 8 WHEREFORE, Defendants pray for relief as follows: That judgment be entered for Defendants and against Plaintiffs, dismissing Plaintiffs' Petition with

9 prejudice; that Plaintiffs take nothing; and that the Court grant such further relief as it deems just and 10 proper under the circumstances. 11 Dated: November 16, 2007 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 5 /s/ MELANIE L. PROCTOR Assistant United States Attorney Attorneys for Defendants Respectfully submitted, SCOTT N. SCHOOLS United States Attorney