Breaking News: Supreme Court decides Kansas v. Garcia
Here is the decision in Kansas v. Garcia, which was decided this morning. Background on the case can be found on SCOTUSBlog at Kansas v. Garcia, No. 17-834.
A 5-4 Court held that a Kansas statutes under which respondents were convicted for identity theft in seeking employment was not preempted by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Justice Alito delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh joined. Justice Thomas filed a concurring opinion, in which Justice Gorsuch joined. Justice Breyer filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which Justices Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan joined.
“Garcia could signal a major shift in immigration federalism jurisprudence. The Garcia court seemed to scale back [Arizona v. United States’ (2012)] view of [the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)’s preemptive scope, and it appeared to reject the idea that state prosecutions that effect federal prosecution priorities might be impermissible. Both analytic moves suggest greater tolerance for state immigration-related enforcement, even when those interventions overlap with federal enforcement or alter federal preferences. As the dissent cautioned, as a practical matter, by allowing the state to prosecute fraud in the employment-procurement process, the majority may have opened a “colossal loophole” in IRCA.”
KJ