AILA and Partners Request TRO to Protect Certain Visa Applicants from COVID-19 Suspension of Entry Proclamation

On April 25, 2020, AILA, the Justice Action Center, the Innovation Law Lab, and the Latino Network, requested a temporary restraining (TRO) order to halt implementation of the April 22, 2020, Presidential Proclamation. The restraining order would protect certain underage visa applicants.

On April 29, 2020, District Court Judge Michael H. Simon issued an order denying the TRO motion seeking to protect F2A age-out class members subject to the April 2020 Presidential Proclamation. The Judge’s decision rests on the motion’s form, not its substance. Specifically, the judge states that “Plaintiffs’ All Writs Act challenge to the April 22nd Proclamation should be brought as a separate challenge specific to that proclamation, seeking a preliminary injunction or TRO under Rule 65, if appropriate.”

The decision notes, “The Court recognizes the potential seriousness of the repercussions of a preference category F2A child being automatically converted to a preference category F2B upon his or her turning 21, as calculated under the CSPA. Based on the information provided by Plaintiffs, there are sufficiently available visas in category F2A, but, depending on the country of origin, immigrant visa applicant wait times can be more than 65 years for applicants in category F2B. “In the end, [however], we are a nation of laws, and if we are to continue to be so, the pre-existing and well-established federal law governing injunctions . . . must be applied to [this] case.” Schiavo, 403 F.3d at 1229 (denying an All Writs Act injunction). If visa limits or wait times for preference category F2B are unreasonably constricted, that is a matter for Congress to fix, not the courts.”

This order does not change the injunction issued against the Healthcare Insurance Proclamation.

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Cite as AILA Doc. No. 20042500.

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