Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Delgado

1984-04-17

Headline: Ruling allows INS to question factory workers during workplace surveys without individualized suspicion, upholding factory raids and easing agents’ ability to screen and arrest suspected undocumented employees.

Holding: The Court held that INS factory surveys conducted with warrants or employer consent did not seize entire workforces and that brief, on-the-job questioning of individual employees was not a Fourth Amendment detention.

Real World Impact:

Permits INS to question factory employees during surveys without individualized suspicion.
Makes it easier for INS to identify and arrest suspected undocumented workers found in surveys.
Reverses the Ninth Circuit rule requiring reasonable suspicion for each questioned employee.

Topics: immigration enforcement, workplace raids, police questioning, workers' privacy

Summary

Background

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) entered two garment factories with warrants or the owners’ consent and conducted systematic "factory surveys." Agents stationed at exits and walked through work lines, identified themselves, and asked most employees one to three questions about their citizenship or immigration papers. Four employees who were questioned challenged the practice in court, arguing the surveys and individual questioning were unlawful seizures under the Fourth Amendment. The District Court sided with the INS; the Ninth Circuit reversed, finding the surveys seized the entire workforce and that each worker could be questioned only on reasonable suspicion.

Reasoning

The Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit. The majority said simply asking workers brief questions while they continued working did not, by itself, amount to a detention of the whole workforce. The Court noted employees’ on-the-job obligations and the record showing workers were free to move about and were not physically restrained. Citing prior decisions, the Court held that mere questioning, absent intimidating circumstances making a reasonable person feel not free to leave, is not a Fourth Amendment seizure.

Real world impact

The decision permits the INS to continue factory surveys carried out with a warrant or owner consent and to question employees briefly without individualized suspicion. That makes it easier for immigration agents to identify and arrest workers they believe are unlawfully present. The Court did not resolve separate Fifth Amendment claims.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Powell and Justice Stevens agreed with the result for different reasons; Justice Brennan (joined by Justice Marshall) dissented in part, arguing the surveys were coercive seizures and urging tighter limits like particularized suspicion or redesigned procedures.