Kansas v. Garcia

Background

Three non‑citizen workers who were not authorized to work in the United States used other people’s Social Security numbers on federal and Kansas tax-withholding forms and on I-9 employment forms. Kansas charged them under state identity-theft and false-information laws; the State agreed not to rely on the I-9s at trial but used the W-4/K-4 tax forms. The Kansas Supreme Court held that a provision of the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) barred those prosecutions, and the State’s convictions were reversed there.

Reasoning

The central question was whether IRCA prevents States from bringing criminal charges based on false Social Security numbers used when starting a job. The majority explained that the specific federal preemption provision that protects employers does not mention employees, and that the rules limiting use of I-9 forms do not mean every fact ever placed on an I-9 can never be used from other sources. The Court concluded that the federal employment‑verification system does not include tax-withholding forms, and it rejected arguments that federal law implicitly occupies the whole field or that overlapping federal and state crimes automatically conflict.

Real world impact

The decision allows States to continue prosecuting people for identity theft or false information when those offenses are based on tax-withholding forms, even if the same false information also appeared on an I-9. Federal prosecution remains possible for related crimes, and federal enforcement priorities do not by themselves block state criminal cases. The cases are sent back for further proceedings consistent with the opinion.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Thomas concurred, urging narrower preemption doctrine; Justice Breyer (joined by three Justices) would have found narrow implied preemption for prosecutions that police fraud done specifically to demonstrate federal work authorization.