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High Court Weighs State Role in Prosecuting Immigrants

Associated Press

   The Supreme Court is trying to sort out whether states can prosecute
   immigrants who use fake Social Security numbers to get a job.

   The justices heard arguments Wednesday in Kansas' appeal of a state
   court ruling that threw out three convictions after concluding the
   state was seeking to punish immigrants who used fake IDs to obtain
   jobs.

   The Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the federal government has
   exclusive authority to determine whether an immigrant may work in the
   United States.

   The justices seemed concerned that states shouldn't be hampered in
   other identity-theft prosecutions when someone might use a stolen
   Social Security number to get a driver's license or arrange for direct
   deposit of a paycheck.

   The case arose from three prosecutions in Johnson County, a largely
   suburban area outside Kansas City where the district attorney has
   aggressively pursued immigrants under the Kansas identity theft and
   false-information statutes.

   The convictions under state law could alter immigration status and lead
   to deportation.

   The issue is whether Kansas is blocked from prosecuting those crimes
   because it is relying on information that is on a required federal work
   authorization form, the I-9. Kansas, backed by the Trump administration
   and 12 states, argues it can prosecute because the same information
   also appears on state work forms.

   In 2012, the court ruled that portions of an Arizona law targeting
   immigrants without proper legal documents could not be enforced because
   federal law trumps state measures in the area of immigration. The three
   immigrants in the Kansas case say the high court's Arizona decision
   should determine the outcome in their situation.

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