Does the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) preempt states from using information in Form I-9 to prosecute a person under state law? The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a case involving prosecution for identity theft under Kansas law based on information in the Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification. Kansas v. Garcia (No. 17-834).
BackgroundRamiro Garcia, Donaldo Morales, and Guadalupe Ochoa-Lara did not have social security cards. They were all convicted of identity theft in Kansas for using other people’s social security numbers to gain employment in various restaurants. In September 2017, the Kansas Supreme Court reversed those convictions on the grounds that the state was prohibited from using information found on the defendants’ I-9 forms to prove its case because such prosecution was preempted by the IRCA. State v. Garcia, 401 P.3d 588 (Kan. 2017).
Questions PresentedThe State of Kansas petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review and, on March 18, 2019, the Court agreed to review the case. The Court will decide the following:
- Whether IRIRCAxpressly preempts the states from using any information entered on or appended to a federal Form I-9, including common information such as name, date of birth, and social security number, in a prosecution of any person (citizen or alien) when that same, commonly used information also appears in non-IRIR...
