Court Finds Jurisdiction to Review Adjustment Application Before Renewal in Removal Proceedings

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In Hillcrest Baptist Church v. U.S.A., the plaintiffs filed a complaint for relief after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denied their adjustment of status applications. The government moved to dismiss because the plaintiffs had not renewed their applications in removal proceedings and, thus, had not yet exhausted their administrative remedies. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington concluded, however, that Ninth Circuit precedent supported the finding that the court had jurisdiction to review the USCIS’s denial of adjustment of status.

The full text of the decision is available here.