Kansas v. Garcia

Kansas v. Garcia, 589 U.S. ___ (2020), was a case of the United States Supreme Court that was decided, by a 5–4 majority, in 2020. The case concerned whether it was lawful for a State to enforce laws criminalizing the making of fraudulent representations by aliens who were not authorized to work in connection with obtaining a job; the Court held that it was.

Background

In the United States, federal law makes it unlawful to employ an immigrant who lacks authorization to work. In order to ensure compliance with this law, employers must verify that their employees are authorized to work by having them complete Form I-9, which contains certain personal information. The form requires the prospective employee to attest under penalty of perjury to their authorization to work. Federal law prohibits the use of the I-9 for law enforcement purposes, with limited exceptions for certain federal crimes (for example, making a fraudulent representation on an I-9); for this reason, the States are preempted from using the I-9 in their own prosecutions or from independently criminalizing fraud upon the employment verification system.

Ramiro Garcia was stopped for speeding in Overland Park, Kansas. After questioning, the officers discovered that Garcia was already the target of an active investigation. Police requested a records check from his employer; among the documents provided was his I-9, which listed the Social Security number (SSN) of another person.