28 U.S. Code § 1441. Removal of civil actions
(a) Generally.—
Except as otherwise expressly provided by Act of Congress, any civil
action brought in a State court of which the district courts of the
United States have original jurisdiction, may be removed by the
defendant or the defendants, to the district court of the United States
for the district and division embracing the place where such action is
pending.
(b) Removal Based on Diversity of Citizenship.—
(1) In determining whether a civil action is removable on the basis of
the jurisdiction under section 1332(a) of this title, the citizenship
of defendants sued under fictitious names shall be disregarded.
(2) A civil action otherwise removable solely on the basis of the
jurisdiction under section 1332(a) of this title may not be removed if
any of the parties in interest properly joined and served as defendants
is a citizen of the State in which such action is brought.
(f) Derivative Removal Jurisdiction.—
The court to which a civil action is removed under this section is not
precluded from hearing and determining any claim in such civil action
because the State court from which such civil action is removed did not
have jurisdiction over that claim.