SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE IF STATES CAN PROSECUTE
ILLEGALS FOR IDENTITY THEFT, By Steven Ahle, 3/20/19.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a
case on whether states can prosecute illegal aliens for identity theft. Kansas
recently convicted three illegal aliens for identity theft, for using stolen
Social Security numbers in order to obtain work.
The state Supreme Court, struck the
convictions, saying that only the federal government can prosecute them for
identity theft, even though they use those IDs to defraud the states. This
means at least 4 justices voted to take the case. They would not do that if
they agreed with the Kansas Supreme Court.
They will hear the case during the next
session, which begins in October.
From The Daily Caller - “I am
encouraged by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear our appeal,” Kansas
Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican, said in a statement. “We remain
convinced Congress did not intend to block Kansas from prosecuting defendants
for falsifying state tax forms or private legal documents merely because the
defendant also falsified federal employment verification forms.”
The case
involves three foreign nationals — Ramiro Garcia, Donaldo Morales
and Guadalupe Ochoa-Lara — who entered the country illegally. The trio
used stolen Social Security numbers when applying for work in the service
industry. All three were convicted of identity theft in Kansas courts.
Those
convictions were reversed on appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court. A four-justice
majority said that a federal statute called the Immigration Reform and
Control Act (IRCA) prohibits states from pursuing such prosecutions. The Kansas
court held that IRCA gives the federal government exclusive power to bring
prosecutions that use information from the I-9, a federal form used to confirm
employment eligibility. Social Security numbers are included on the I-9.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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