NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ___________ No. 22-3182 __________ GREGORY IFESINACHI EZEANI, Appellant v. JIMENEZ, DHS/ICE Arresting Officer; JANNELLE MALONEY, DHS/ICE Arresting Officer; MARK RAMOTOWSKI, DHS/ICE Arresting Officer; JOHN TSOUKARIS, DHS/ICE Field Office Director ____________________________________ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (D.C. Civil Action No. 2:22-cv-05165) District Judge: Honorable Brian R. Martinotti ____________________________________ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) May 2, 2023 Before: KRAUSE, PHIPPS, and SCIRICA, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: May 4, 2023) ___________ OPINION* ___________ PER CURIAM * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. Gregory Ifesinachi Ezeani filed a pro se civil rights complaint in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, raising claims stemming from his arrest by immigration officers and his subsequent 10-month detention. (ECF 1.) He named as defendants the officers who arrested him and a DHS/ICE field office director, suing them in their official capacities only. As relief, Ezeani sought $10 million and return of his passports. Ezeani also applied to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP). (ECF 1, at 7-8.) The District Court denied the IFP application, explaining that Ezeani “name[d] defendants that are immune from suit.” See Brown v. Sage, 941 F.3d 655, 660-61 (3d Cir. 2019) (en banc) (holding that “a court has the discretion to consider the merits of a case and evaluate an IFP application in either order or even simultaneously”). The District Court further ordered the clerk to close the case file, but explained that Ezeani “may, within 14 days from the date of this order, file an amended complaint and IFP application or, to reopen the case without further action from the Court, submit payment in the amount of $402.” (ECF 3.) Ezeani appealed.1 (ECF 4.) In his brief, which we liberally construe, Ezeani challenges the District Court’s conclusion that the defendants were immune from suit and its rejection of his request that the defendants return his “permanently confiscated” passports. Appellant’s Br., 9-13. Immunity is an affirmative defense, but a District Court may dismiss a complaint sua sponte under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(iii) when a party’s immunity is clear on the face 1 We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. See Borelli v. City of Reading, 532 F.2d 950, 951-52 (3d Cir. 1976) (per curiam); Batoff v. State Farm Ins. Co., 977 F.2d 848, 851 n.5 (3d Cir 1992). 2 of the complaint. See Walker v. Thompson, 288 F.3d 1005, 1010 (7th Cir. 2002). Whether a defendant is entitled to immunity is a question of law that is reviewed de novo. See Betts v. New Castle Youth Dev. Ctr., 621 F.3d 249, 252 (3d Cir. 2010). Because Ezeani sued the defendants, all of whom are employees of DHS/ICE, only in their official capacities, sovereign immunity shields them to the extent that Ezeani sought monetary damages. See Treasurer of N.J. v. U.S. Dep’t of …
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals