The US Supreme Court recently announced that it will hear arguments in Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc. v. Napolitano, 558 F.3d 856 (9th Cir. 2009), cert. granted sub nom. Chamber of Commerce v. Candelaria, (June 28, 2009) (No. 09-115).
The case involves Arizona’s Legal Arizona Workers Act, which prohibits employers from knowingly or intentionally employing an unauthorized workers. At issue in the case is whether the state statute is preempted by federal immigration laws. The lower courts upheld the statute, finding that it was not preempted by federal law.
The Court granted cert on the following issues:
- Whether an Arizona statute that imposes sanctions on employers who hire unauthorized aliens is invalid under a federal statute that expressly “preempt[s] any State or local law imposing civil or criminal sanctions (other than through licensing and similar laws) upon those who employ, or recruit or refer for a fee for employment, unauthorized aliens.” 8 U.S.C. § 1324a(h)(2).
- Whether the Arizona statute, which requires all employers to participate in a federal electronic employment verification system, is preempted by a federal law that specifically makes that system voluntary. 8 U.S.C. § 1324a note.
- Whether the Arizona statute is impliedly preempted because it undermines the “comprehensive scheme” that Congress created to regulate the employment of aliens. Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB, 535 U.S. 137, 147 (2002).
The outcome of this case may significantly alter the landscape of immigration law and how foreign nationals are treated in the United States.