Category: Immigration

State Identity Theft Law Not Preempted by Federal Immigration Law

by · Mar 3, 2020 10:10 am

Immigration is a subject fully within the authority of the federal government. A federal statute requires new employees to complete a form to confirm they are not unauthorized aliens. The law makes it a federal crime to provide false information on this form. It also preempts state laws imposing sanctions on employers for hiring unauthorized aliens.

A general Kansas law forbids identity theft. Can this law apply to an employee who put someone else’s Social Security number on the work authorization form and also on the tax withholding forms? The Supreme Court today said yes in a surprisingly close decision.

Continue reading . . .

Circuit Split on Sanctuary Cities and Byrne Grants

by · Feb 27, 2020 10:59 am

Yesterday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided in favor of the federal government in New York v. USDOJ, No. 19-267. The court upheld the authority of DoJ to withhold federal funds for state and local law enforcement in the Byrne Grant program from jurisdictions that refuse certain cooperation with enforcement of federal immigration law.

This decision creates a split of authority among the federal circuits, as the Seventh, Third, and Ninth Circuits have decided differently. Unless the full Second Circuit overrules the three-judge panel, the Supreme Court is likely to resolve the issue.

Continue reading . . .

Feds File Three More Suits v. State & Local “Sanctuary” Policies

by · Feb 10, 2020 4:59 pm

Michelle Hackman reports for the WSJ:

The U.S. Justice Department filed three lawsuits against California, New Jersey and a Washington county late Monday over their laws and policies limiting local cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, escalating a Trump administration battle against liberal states and localities that adopt so-called sanctuary policies.

Continue reading . . .

“Rescue us from the morass of the categorical approach.”

by · Jan 28, 2020 11:25 am

For purposes of sentencing and immigration, federal courts must often categorize prior convictions from state courts to see if they qualify as “aggravated felonies” or “violent felonies.” The “categorical approach” is the method established by the Supreme Court that looks only at the elements of the crime under state law, not what the perpetrator actually did. It asks if it is possible to commit that crime in a way not included in the “generic” definition of the crime.

Concurring in an immigration case, USCA9 Judge Susan Graber “write[s] separately to add my voice to the substantial chorus of federal judges pleading for the Supreme Court or Congress to rescue us from the morass of the categorical approach. [Citations.] The categorical approach requires us to perform absurd legal gymnastics, and it produces absurd results.”
Continue reading . . .