Kansas v. Garcia
Kansas v. Garcia, 589 U.S. ___ (2020), is a case of the United States Supreme Court that was decided, by a 5–4 majority, in 2020.
| Kansas v. Garcia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued October 16, 2019 Decided March 4, 2020 | |
| Full case name | Kansas v. Ramiro Garcia, et al. |
| Docket no. | 17-834 |
| Citations | 589 U.S. ___ (more) 140 S. Ct. 791; 206 L. Ed. 2d 146 |
| Argument | Oral argument |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Conviction affirmed, State v. Garcia, No. 112,502, 2016 WL 368054 (Kan. App. 2016); reversed, 306 Kan. 1113, 401 P.3d 588 (2017); cert. granted, 139 S. Ct. 1317 (2019). |
| Holding | |
| The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 neither expressly nor impliedly preempts Kansas’s application of its state identity-theft and fraud statutes to the noncitizens in this case. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Alito, joined by Roberts, Kavanaugh |
| Concurrence | Thomas, joined by Gorsuch |
| Concur/dissent | Breyer, joined by Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan |
| Laws applied | |
| Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 | |
Background
Ramiro Garcia was stopped for speeding in Overland Park, Kansas. After questioning, the officers discovered that Garcia was already the target of an active investigation. Police requested a records check from his employer; among the documents provided was his Form I-9, which listed the social security number of another person. Garcia had used this false number for other documentation, and so was arrested for identity fraud. The case was bundled with two other similar instances of purported identity fraud, involving Donaldo Morales and Guadalupe Ochoa-Lara, each involving Form I-9s and Form W-4s.[1]
Issue
Does the IRCA expressly or impliedly preempt states from using information provided on a federal Form I-9 in a prosecution of any person when the same information also appears in non-IRCA documents?
Supreme Court opinion
The 5–4 majority led by Justice Alito determined that the IRCA does not prohibit Kansas or another state from applying identity theft/fraud statutes to non-citizens under these circumstances.[2]
References
External links
- Text of Kansas v. Garcia, 589 U.S. ___ (2020) is available from: Justia Oyez (oral argument audio) Supreme Court (slip opinion)