U.S. Supreme Court decides Kansas identity theft case

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that Kansas can prosecute individuals for identity theft under state law when they use someone else's Social Security number (SSN) to get a job. The controversy arose from three criminal cases: State v. Garcia, State v. Morales, and State v. Ochoa-Lara. In all three cases, undocumented immigrants without Social Security cards were convicted of identity theft in Kansas after they used another person's SSN to complete I-9 forms provided by a restaurant that had offered them jobs. The three immigrants also used the false SSNs on other documents, including federal and state tax withholding forms.

Kansas Supreme Court's decision

On September 8, 2017, the Kansas Supreme Court held in all three cases that the state was not permitted to base prosecutions on information contained on an I-9 form. The court pointed to a federal statute, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), as the basis of its decision.

The IRCA, an immigration reform law passed by Congress in 1986, requires employees to complete I-9 forms when they're hired. The Kansas Supreme Court noted that the IRCA limits the use of information “contained in or appended to” I-9 forms, which typically includes the employee's name, date of birth, and SSN.

U.S. Supreme Court's decision