Navarro

MEMORANDUM *

Appellant Art Navarro appeals from the district court’s order dismissing his complaint on the ground that the defendants, entities of the Tule River Indian Tribe, were immune from suit by virtue of tribal sovereign immunity. We conclude that the case was improperly removed to federal court and, as a result, the district court lacked jurisdiction over the case at the time it entered its order. Accordingly, we vacate the district court’s order and remand the case to the district court with instructions to remand the case to state court for further proceedings.

The two bases asserted in the notice of removal were insufficient to establish federal question jurisdiction because *661 both were defenses, and thus, under the “well pleaded” complaint rule, irrelevant to the jurisdictional determination. See Beneficial Nat’l Bank v. Anderson, 589 U.S. 1, 6 , 123 S.Ct. 2058 , 156 L.Ed.2d 1 (2003); see also Okla. Tax Comm’n v. Graham, 489 U.S. 838, 841 , 109 S.Ct. 1519 , 103 L.Ed.2d 924 (1989) (per curiam) (“The possible existence of a tribal immunity defense [does not convert state law] claims into federal questions.”).

At oral argument, Appellees switched gears, arguing that…