By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
SUMMONSES have been issued to federal immigration agencies and senior officials after two Japanese EB‑5 investors filed a lawsuit in the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. The plaintiffs are seeking emergency court intervention to obtain temporary proof of their lawful permanent resident status.
In a motion filed March 18, plaintiffs Shinya and Masayo Miyamoto asked the court to order the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to issue Form I‑551 “ADIT” stamps — temporary evidence of lawful permanent residence. The couple is represented by Chicago-based attorney Taher Kameli, with local counsel Richard C. Miller of Saipan.
According to the filing, the Miyamotos were admitted to the United States as conditional lawful permanent residents through the EB‑5 immigrant investor program. They later filed Form I‑829 petitions to remove the conditions on their residency, but USCIS denied the petitions and issued Notices to Appear, placing them in removal proceedings before an immigration judge. Because those proceedings remain pending and no final removal order has been issued, the motion argues that the Miyamotos “remain lawful permanent residents as a matter of law.”
The lawsuit names as defendants DHS; former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem; USCIS; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott; CBP Deputy Commissioner Joseph Mazzara; USCIS senior official Joseph Edlow; USCIS District Director David Gulick; and CBP Saipan Port Director Ferdinand Mallari. Summonses have now been issued to all defendants, formally initiating the response period. Under federal civil procedure rules, the government has 60 days from service of the summonses to respond to the complaint because the defendants include federal agencies and officials sued in their official capacities.
The plaintiffs said DHS previously issued them ADIT stamps but recently refused to renew them, citing the pending removal case. Without documentation, they argue they cannot safely travel, prove work authorization, or reenter the United States without risk of detention. One exhibit warns that without proof of status, they “cannot safely travel internationally… or present themselves for inspection and reenter the United States without risk of detention.”
The motion asserts that DHS has a nondiscretionary duty under 8 C.F.R. § 264.5(h) to issue temporary evidence of lawful permanent resident status when a valid green card is unavailable. The plaintiffs argue that the refusal to issue ADIT stamps constitutes “agency action unlawfully withheld” under the Administrative Procedure Act.
The Miyamotos are asking the court to order DHS to issue the stamps within five business days of any court order, enjoin the agency from withholding temporary proof of status while their removal cases are pending, and declare that they remain lawful permanent residents until a final removal order is entered.
A hearing date has not yet been set.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
