Writ of Mandamus and Attorneys Fees Under the EAJA – When is a Prevailing Party Really Prevailing?
On December 1, 2008, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued an interesting and proper decision on the issue of whether a lawful permanent resident whose naturalization application had been pending for over two years was a prevailing party for an EAJA award of attorneys fees when the Court remanded her case back to the USCIS with instructions to adjudicate her N-400 within 120 days. The case is Cohen v. Swacina.
The Court did not decide the N-400 in the Plaintiff's favor. It simply sent her case back to the USCIS but it gave the USCIS a specific deadline—so did this remand mean that the Plaintiff prevailed and therefore was entitled to attorneys fees under the EAJA?
The District Court said yes. The Court ruled that its remand Order “altered the relationship” between the Plaintiff and the USCIS in a way that resulted in the Plaintiff obtaining relief—she achieved an end to the unlimited delay in her N-400 and therefore she obtained a favorable result and was entitled to an award of attorneys fees.
It’s true that the Court did not give the Plaintiff what she really wanted—a favorable ruling by the Court itself on her N-400 and this is something that the Court had the authority to do. But the Court still gave the Plaintiff relief by ordering an end to the excessive delay in her naturalization application.
This is clearly a well-reasoned decision and should be useful to others who succeed in federal court when faced with USCIS delays – even if that success is only to get a remand back to the USCIS imposing a court ordered deadline to finally act on the application.
