[Daily Caller] The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that state governments can prosecute illegal aliens of identity theft, including aliens who use false Social Security numbers to unlawfully gain employment.In a tight 5-4 decision, a majority of justices on the nation’s highest court ruled that there is nothing in federal immigration law that forbids state prosecutors from going after undocumented aliens who used false or stolen identification.
The case revolved around interpretation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which makes it a federal crime to lie on employment authorization forms.
While liberal justices on the Supreme Court argued that immigration-related employment fraud is a federal matter, conservatives found that aliens can also be subject to criminal prosecution by states if they use someone else’s information.
"Although IRCA expressly regulates the use of I‐9’s and documents appended to that form, no provision of IRCA directly addresses the use of other documents, such as federal and state tax-withholding forms, that an employee may complete upon beginning a new job," wrote Justice Samuel Alito on behalf of the court’s majority.