Kansas v. Garcia
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 3, 2020 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- March 3, 2020
- Term
- October Term 2019
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Alito
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice ALITO delivered the opinion of the Court. Kansas law makes it a crime to commit "identity theft" or engage in fraud to obtain a benefit. Respondents-three aliens who are not authorized to work in this country-were convicted under these provisions for fraudulently using another person's Social Security number on state and federal tax-withholding forms that they submitted when they obtained employment. The Supreme Court of Kansas held that a provision of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), 100 Stat. 3359, expressly preempts the Kansas statutes at issue insofar as they provide a basis for these prosecutions. We reject this reading of the provision in question, as well as respondents' alternative arguments based on implied preemption. We therefore reverse. I A The foundation of our laws on immigration and naturalization is the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 66 Stat. 163, as amended, 8 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq. , which sets out the " 'terms and conditions of admission to the country and the subsequent treatment of aliens lawfully in the country.' " Chamber of Commerce of United States of America v. Whiting , 563 U.S. 582, 587, 131 S.Ct. 1968, 179 L.Ed.2d 1031 (2011). As initially enacted, the INA did not prohibit the employment of illegal aliens, and this Court held that federal law left room for the States to regulate in this field. See De Canas v.…
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