USCIS processing holds tied to Atlanta Vetting Center
An immigration attorney flagged a USCIS response in litigation linking processing holds to a previously undisclosed Vetting Center in Atlanta — a fact not in court records and now used to argue delay in mandamus suits flagged. That link could change how practitioners plead systemic delays and supports targeted discovery requests — courts may want answers about undisclosed vetting steps.
USCIS publicly announced creation of a national “Vetting Center” headquartered in Atlanta on December 5, 2025 [AILA alert]. USCIS issued Policy Memorandum PM‑602‑0192 on December 2, 2025, directing immediate “hold and review” of all pending Form I‑589 asylum applications and of benefit requests filed by nationals of 19 countries named in Presidential Proclamation 10949. [USCIS PM‑602‑0192]. A screenshot circulated on X shows a USCIS litigation filing expressly identifying the agency’s Atlanta Vetting Center as the operational node where certain adjudicative holds are routed; the screenshot was posted by an immigration attorney on X. []. Practice groups and litigators are already citing PM‑602‑0192 and the Vetting Center announcement to reframe mandamus complaints as systemic‑delay suits that request targeted process discovery rather than only case‑specific relief. [American Immigration Council practice advisory]. Targeted discovery requests that litigators are likely to seek include: the number of files routed to the Vetting Center, the dates files were transferred, written criteria or risk‑scoring thresholds used, and the specific databases queried (USCIS systems reportedly include HART, IDENT, TECS and ATS). [VisaVerge analysis; PM‑602‑0192]. Federal courts have permitted and overseen discovery into agency security and procedural practices where relevance to delay or classwide relief exists, including disputes over protective orders and the sufficiency of agency declarations. [Eleventh Circuit unpublished order; Malik v. DHS decision]. USCIS public statements that the Vetting Center will re‑review previously approved benefits and prioritize nationals of the 19 designated countries give litigants an evidentiary hook to seek expedited interrogatories, custodial searches, and declarations about routing and hold‑lifting timelines. [USCIS PM‑602‑0192; VisaVerge].
