The Supreme Court is making it easier for states to prosecute immigrants who use fake social security numbers to get a job. The issue for the Court was wheather states could pursue the immigrants in court or had to leave those choices to the Federal Government, which typically has authority over immigration. The court ruled 5-4 yesterday, with conservatives in the majority, that nothing in Federal Immigration Law prevents states from going after immigrants who use phony identification. It reversed a ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court that the Federal Government has exclusive authority to determine whether an immigrant may work in the United States. In 2017 the Kansas Supreme Court overturned the convictions of three individuals for crimes including identity theft and making false information on state tax forms. The Kansas Supreme Court’s majority concluded that Federal Immigration law preempt Kansas from enforcing State Criminal Law in these cases because the false social security numbers and other information the defendants used had also been submitted on a Federal I-9 form used for employment verification.
