LA Supreme Court Holds that State Immigration Law Preempted
, the Louisiana Supreme Court in State v. Sarrabea addressed th econstitutionality of a provision of a series of state laws under the title “Prevention of Terrorismon the Highways.” 2002 La. Acts, 1st Ex. Sess. 46, § 1. Among other stated aims, thepurpose of the enactment was “to make operating a motor vehicle in this state whennot lawfully present in the United States a crime.” The statute proscribes the operation of a motorvehicle by an alien student or nonresident alien who does not possess documentationdemonstrating lawful presence in the United States. Following a no contest plea to the charge of violating La. R.S. 14:100.13,in which he reserved the right to appeal the claim that the statute is preempted byfederal law, the defendant appealed his conviction. The Louisiana Supreme Court Court held that the Louisiana law is preempted by federal law: “After review of the relevant law, both statutory and jurisprudential, and despiteits laudable goal aimed at preventing acts of terrorism, we are constrained to find,based on the Supreme Court case of Arizona v. United States, 132 S.Ct. 2492 (2012),that La. R.S. 14:100.13 operates in the field of alien registration and is, therefore,preempted by federal law under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.” Download Sarrabea