Part of Oklahoma Immigration Law Struck Down by 10th Circuit

The efforts of the state’s to regulate immigration continues and it now looks increasingly likely that the Supreme Court will enter the fray.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit yesterday (Download 08-6127[1]) in Chamber of Commerce v. Edmondson struck down two provisions of an Oklahoma law (Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007) purporting to regulate the employment of immigrants. The court, in an opinion by Judge Carlos Lucero (with Judge Kelly concurring in part and Judge Hartz, concurring and dissenting)  held that the provisions that sought to create a new civil action to penalize businesses that employ unauthorized workers and impose a punitive tax on businesses that decline to verify the employment eligibility of independent contractors, are preempted by federal immigration law. The court upheld the district court’s injunction prohibiting enforcement of these provisions.

The Tenth Circuit split on the lawfulness of a provision of the Oklahoma law mandating that all public contractors enroll in the federal E-Verify system. There was no majority decision on the validity of Oklahoma’s E-Verify mandate. The Tenth Circuit disagreed with the Ninth Circuit’s 2009 decision upholding a similar Arizona  law.  A petition for certiorari in the Arizona case is currently pending in the U.S. Supreme Court.  The emerging circuit split makes it more likely that the Court will grant cert.

The Tenth Circuit remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings.

For more on the decision, click here and here.

KJ