Najafianashrafi v. Garland

• Court: District Court, E.D. California
• Decided: March 29, 2024
• Docket: 1:24-cv-00336
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ZABIHOLLAH NAJAFIANASHRAFI, Case No. 1:24-cv-00336-BAM 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT TO RANDOMLY ASSIGN DISTRICT 13 v. JUDGE

14 MERRICK B. GARLAND, et al., FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS RECOMMENDING PLAINTIFF’S 15 Defendants. APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS BE DENIED 16 (Doc. 2) 17 FOURTEEN (14) DAY DEADLINE 18 19 Plaintiff Zabihollah Najafianashrafi (“Plaintiff”), proceeding pro se, seeks adjudication of 20 his petition for adjustment of status to permanent residence (Form I-485). (Doc. 1.) Plaintiff 21 initiated this action on March 21, 2024. (Id.) On the same day, Plaintiff filed an application to 22 proceed in forma pauperis under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. (Doc. 2.). 23 According to Plaintiff’s application, he receives monthly income from employment in the 24 amount of $3,433.22 per month. (Doc. 2 at 1.) This amounts to an annual income of $41,198.64 25 ($3,433.22 x 12 months). Plaintiff has no dependents. (Id. at 2.) 26 /// 27 /// 28 1 “To satisfy the requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1915, applicants must demonstrate that 2 because of poverty, they cannot meet court costs and still provide themselves, and any 3 dependents, with the necessities of life.” Soldani v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., No. 1:19-cv-00040, 4 2019 WL 2160380, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 31, 2019). Many courts look to the federal poverty 5 guidelines set by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) as a 6 guidepost in evaluating in forma pauperis applications. See Martinez v. Kristi Kleaners, Inc., 364 7 F.3d 1305, 1307 n.5 (11th Cir. 2004); Boulas v. United States Postal Serv., No. 1:18-cv-01163- 8 LJO-BAM, 2018 WL 6615075, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Nov. 1, 2018) (applying federal poverty 9 guidelines to in forma pauperis application). For a family or household of one, the 2024 poverty 10 guideline is $15,060. See U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines Used to Determine Financial 11 Eligibility for Certain Federal Programs, available at https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines 12 (last visited March 29, 2024). 13 Having considered Plaintiff’s application, the Court finds that he has not made the 14 showing required by section 1915 that he is unable to pay the required fees for this action. 15 Plaintiff has attested to employment income. Plaintiff’s household estimated annual income is 16 more than double the federal poverty guidelines. In light of his application, Plaintiff is able to 17 pay the filing fee while also providing for the necessities of life. Accordingly, the Clerk of the 18 Court is HEREBY DIRECTED to randomly assign a District Judge to this action. 19 Furthermore, it is HEREBY RECOMMENDED that: 20 1. Plaintiff’s application to proceed without prepayment of fees and costs (Doc. 2) be 21 DENIED; and 22 2. Plaintiff be required to pay the $405.00 filing fee in full to proceed with this 23 action. 24 These findings and recommendations are submitted to the United States District Judge 25 assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of Title 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(l). Within fourteen 26 (14) days after being served with these findings and recommendations, Plaintiff may file written 27 objections with the Court. Such a document should be captioned “Objections to Magistrate 28 Judge’s Findings and Recommendations.” Plaintiff is advised that failure to file objections within 1 the specified time may result in the waiver of rights on appeal. Wilkerson v. Wheeler, 772 F.3d 2 834, 838-39 (9th Cir. 2014) (citing Baxter v. Sullivan, 923 F.2d 1391, 1394 (9th Cir. 1991)). 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. 4

5 Dated: March 29, 2024 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 6

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