Alfarag v. United States Customs and Border Protection

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE MAJID ALFARAG, CASE NO. 2:24-cv-02017-LK Plaintiff, ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE 12 v. 13 UNITED STATES CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, et al., Defendants.

This matter comes before the Court sua sponte. On December 10, 2024, pro se Plaintiff Majid Alfarag’s application to proceed in forma pauperis was granted and his complaint was docketed. Dkt. Nos. 4–5. In the intervening months, summonses have not issued and no Defendant has appeared.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m) provides that “[i]f a defendant is not served within days after the complaint is filed, the court . . . must dismiss the action without prejudice against that defendant or order that service be made within a specified time.” In addition, plaintiffs have a general duty to prosecute their claims, see Fid. Phila. Tr. Co. v. Pioche Mines Consol., Inc., 587 1 F.2d 27, 29 (9th Cir. 1978), and they fail to fulfill this duty when they do not litigate their case, see, e.g., Spesock v. U.S. Bank, NA, No. C18-0092-JLR, 2018 WL 5825439, at *3 (W.D. Wash. Nov. 7, 2018). “[T]o prevent undue delays in the disposition of pending cases and to avoid congestion in the calendars of the District Courts,” federal courts may exercise their inherent power to dismiss a case sua sponte for failure to prosecute. Link v. Wabash R. Co., 370 U.S. 626, 629–31 (1962); see also, e.g., Ville v. Meridian at Stone Creek Assisted Living, No. C17-913-MJP, 2017 7 WL 4700340, at *1 (W.D. Wash. Oct. 19, 2017). More than 90 days have passed since the complaint was filed, and there is no indication that Mr. Alfarag has served either Defendant.

9 The Court thus ORDERS Mr. Alfarag to show cause within 60 days of this Order why the case should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute and failure to serve. If Mr. Alfarag timely serves copies of the summonses and complaint and files proof of the same, the Court will discharge this Order. Failure to respond will result in dismissal of the case without prejudice.

13 Resources for pro se plaintiffs proceeding in this district are available at https://www.wawd.uscourts.gov/representing-yourself-pro-se. Among other things, these resources cover how to obtain a summons and how to complete service.

17 Dated this 29th day of April, 2025.

18 A 19 Lauren King United States District Judge