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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND

HINA YOUNIS v. NAUMAN FAROOQI

: : : CIVIL NO. CCB-07-1393 : : ...o0o... MEMORANDUM

Now pending before the court are cross motions for summary judgment filed by the defendant, Nauman Farooqi ("Mr. Farooqi"), and the plaintiff, Hina Younis ("Ms. Younis"). The dispute arises from Mr. Farooqi's obligation to support Ms. Younis pursuant to an Affidavit of Support that he signed after they were married. The issues in these motions have been fully briefed and no hearing is necessary. For the reasons stated below, the defendant's motion will be denied and the plaintiff's motion will be granted.

BACKGROUND The plaintiff, Ms. Younis, a citizen of Pakistan, came to the United States in 2003 to marry the defendant, Mr. Farooqi, a United States citizen. Soon after they were married, Mr. Farooqi signed an Affidavit of Support Form I-864 (the "affidavit") on May 23, 2003, agreeing to sponsor Ms. Younis and provide her with the necessary support to "maintain [her] at an income that is at least 125 percent of the Federal poverty guidelines." During the marriage, the couple resided in Catonsville, Maryland. The couple separated on January 27, 2006, when Mr. Farooqi left the marital home, and

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Ms. Younis filed for a limited divorce on March 7, 2006. In June 2006, the Circuit Court for Baltimore County granted Ms. Younis sole legal and primary physical custody of the couple's only child and ordered Mr. Farooqi to pay child support in the amount of $544 per month. In January 2007, Mr. Farooqi consented to pay $450 per month in temporary alimony. In April 2008, the court increased the child support payments to $556 per month and alimony to $850 per month and made the increases retroactive to February of that year. At all times Mr. Farooqi has been in compliance with these court orders. On May 25, 2007, Ms. Younis filed this claim to enforce Mr. Farooqi's financial obligations under the affidavit.1 Mr. Farooqi filed his motion for summary judgment on July 18, 2008. He concedes that he has an obligation under the affidavit and that the affidavit is valid. He contends, however, that his obligation should be reduced by the plaintiff's alimony and child support, any wages she has received, and cash gifts she received from friends and fellow mosque members after the separation. He further contends that Ms. Younis has failed to mitigate her losses by finding paid, full-time employment. Ms. Younis filed her motion for summary judgment on September 12, 2008.

ANALYSIS Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment "should be rendered if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is

In her original complaint, Ms. Younis mislabeled the affidavit as an I-184 form. She filed an amended complaint correcting the error on August 27, 2007. 2

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entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). The Supreme Court has clarified this does not mean that any factual dispute will defeat the motion. "By its very terms, this standard provides that the mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48 (1986) (emphasis in original). "A party opposing a properly supported motion for summary judgment `may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of [his] pleadings,' but rather must `set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.'" Bouchat v. Baltimore Ravens Football Club, Inc., 346 F.3d 514, 525 (4th Cir. 2003) (alteration in original) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e)). The court must "view the evidence in the light most favorable to . . . the nonmovant, and draw all reasonable inferences in her favor without weighing the evidence or assessing the witness' credibility," Dennis v. Columbia Colleton Med. Ctr., Inc., 290 F.3d 639, 645 (4th Cir. 2002), but the court also must abide by the "affirmative obligation of the trial judge to prevent factually unsupported claims and defenses from proceeding to trial." Bouchat, 346 F.3d at 526 (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Drewitt v. Pratt, 999 F.2d 774, 778-79 (4th Cir. 1993), and citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-24 (1986)).

A. Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment Under federal law, immigrants who are likely to become a public charge are ineligible for admission into the United States, 8 U.S.C.

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