Supreme Court to Consider State Prosecution of Illegal Immigrant Identity Theft

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court has decided to review a Kansas Supreme Court ruling that held that only the federal government has the legal authority under U.S. immigration laws to prosecute illegal aliens for identity theft. Urged on by Kansas and the Trump administration, the high court agreed March 18 to take up what promises to be a politically fraught appeal in an age in which virtually every aspect of the American immigration system is controversial or under attack. The appeal comes as President Donald Trump battles Congress over his declaration under the National Emergencies Act that allowed him to divert monies already appropriated for other federal projects to the wall or border barrier he wants to build on the nation’s porous southern boundary with Mexico.

Kansas and 10 other states want the legal authority to be able to go after illegal aliens for identity theft and other offenses when they work under Social Security numbers belonging to others. A victory by Kansas would give states more power to deal with illegal aliens, instead of relying on federal officials. “Identity crime is a problem that far exceeds the capacity of the United States alone to prosecute,” Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt stated in court documents.

Court rulings currently prevent the states from prosecuting such illegals when the information relied on comes from a federal work authorization form, known as the I-9, which immigration authorities say is only supposed to be used to enforce federal criminal laws. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) made it unlawful to employ aliens who are not authorized to work in the United States, created an employment eligibility verification system, and created a civil and criminal penalty regime for employers who violate the law.

In the cases of Ramiro Garcia, Donaldo Morales, and Guadalupe Ochoa-Lara, illegal aliens who sought restaurant jobs, the Kansas Supreme Court found the IRCA preempts the application of state identity theft, identity fraud, and making false writing laws whenever any of the information needed for the prosecution is contained in or attached to a Form I-9, even when the state prosecutes for use of that very same information in non-IRCA documents, the state of Kansas stated in a brief filed with the court. “It is Congress’s plain and clear expression of its intent to preempt the use of the I-9 form and any information contained in the I-9 for purposes other than those listed,” the Kansas Supreme Court found in the Garcia case.

Kansas argued that it is absurd to prevent it from prosecuting in such identity theft cases, and that prosecutors didn’t rely on the form and instead utilized Garcia’s tax withholding forms, on which the stolen Social Security number also appeared. The “most natural reading” of the IRCA is that it forbids the use of the I-9 form itself and any appended documents, but not basic information like Social Security numbers that are also found on other forms. The Kansas law “does not regulate employment,” U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco said. “It regulates the use of another person’s identity with the intent to commit fraud.”

https://www.theepochtimes.com/supreme-court-to-consider-state-prosecution-of-illegal-immigrant-identity-theft_2845026.html

Official Filing

https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-834/22991/20171207130642265_Garcia%20Petition–PDFA.pdf

West Virginia Attorney General Sues Catholic Diocese

The West Virginia attorney general filed a civil suit Tuesday against the Wheeling-Charleston Catholic Diocese and former Bishop Michael J. Bransfield, alleging they knowingly hired pedophiles. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, claimed the diocese knowingly retained pedophiles and also failed to conduct thorough background checks on school and camp employees and to warn parents about the potential dangers to their children.

Morrisey’s lawsuit is the culmination of an investigation of the diocese that he began in September 2018. “Parents who pay and entrust the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese and its schools to educate and care for their children deserve full transparency,” Morrisey said in a statement. “Our investigation reveals a serious need for the Diocese to enact policy changes that will better protect children, just as this lawsuit demonstrates our resolve to pursue every avenue to effectuate change as no one is above the law.”

The suit alleges Bransfield and the diocese violated West Virginia consumer protection laws by failing to warn parents that confessed pedophiles like Father Patrick Condron had direct access to their children. The diocese reportedly sent Condron to rehabilitative treatment after he confessed to sexually abusing a student at St. Joseph Preparatory Seminary High School in Vienna, West Virginia. Afterward the diocese assigned him to Wheeling Catholic Elementary School from 1998 to 2001. The lawsuit also alleges the diocese hired Victor Frobas, who was later convicted of and imprisoned for child sexual abuse, despite knowing that he had been credibly accused of abuse in the past; failed to conduct a background check on Ronald Cooper, who was convicted of statutory rape and robbery, before employing him as a school teacher; and hired another priest who admitted to having been accused of sexual abuse.

“Today is a sad day, but the Attorney General still believes there are so many priests and deacons in the Catholic church — who are good men — who will support this effort so we can really seek meaningful changes in how the church handles sexual abuse,” Morrisey said. The diocese announced on March 11 it completed a preliminary investigation into allegations against Bransfield of abuse cover-up and that it restricted Bransfield from ministerial duties while the Holy See reviewed the completed investigation. Morrisey urged the diocese to release its findings to the public.

https://www.dailycaller.com/2019/03/19/west-virginia-ag-sues-diocese/

‘He’s Not Going To Be Hauled Out In Handcuffs’: Trump-Fired Prosecutor Preet Bharara Says Mueller Won’t Arrest Trump

Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said potential results from the Mueller report might “disappoint the crowd” of audience members on ABC’s “The View” Tuesday. “He’s not going to be hauled out in handcuffs,” Bharara said of President Donald Trump, arguing that he didn’t believe special counsel Robert Mueller would change the current policy that says a sitting president cannot be indicted. “He’s very methodical,” Bharara said of Mueller and of persistent rumors about when his investigation and report would be finished. “He won’t do anything before it’s time.”

Meghan McCain asked what the former U.S. attorney — who was famously fired by Trump — thought Americans could expect from Mueller’s conclusion. “A lot of people in the country, like Joy, are hoping that the president is going to be walking out of the White House in handcuffs when all of this is over,” she noted. “Now I’m worried that I’ll disappoint the crowd,” Bharara laughed. “He’s not going to be hauled out in handcuffs. Maybe he should be. Maybe that’s proof beyond a reasonable doubt of a crime. But as people have talked about for a while now, there is a written guidance policy document in the Department of Justice that says a sitting president cannot be prosecuted.” Bharara concluded that Mueller will most likely abide by that policy — and that no matter what happens, a large chunk of the population will be upset “because they don’t get the outcome they want.”

https://www.dailycaller.com/2019/03/19/preet-bharara-trump-handcuffs-mueller/

Jeff Landry: Big Tech Must Learn ‘No One Is Bigger than the People’

Jeff Landry, the Attorney General of Louisiana and a former congressman, encouraged government action against Big Tech companies during an appearance on SiriusXM Patriot’s Breitbart News Daily, Tuesday. “We have seen a tremendous amount of consolidation in regards to social platforms and the tech industry over the last decade, and the result of that has become a handful of companies, and I mean a very handful, that have amassed a tremendous amount of data and power over the U.S. and world economy,” Landry declared. “Just the fact that they could censor any type of speech is very problematic, on top of the fact that the monetization of people’s personal data is enriching these companies at the expense of the consumer.”

“What is also interesting is when you talk to Attorney Generals around the country, irrespective of whether they’re Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, there is an instinct that there is something going on. So there is this instinct feeling that something must be done with these companies, that they’ve become too big,” he continued, adding, “What makes America great is the fact that no one is bigger than the people.”

“No one is truly bigger than the government, which of course is the government of the people, and when corporations historically in this country, in our free market economy, have amassed monopolistic power and the power to basically control the economy, then the people have stood up and said, ‘You know what, enough is enough, something must be done,'” Landry proclaimed. “And look, there’s been a lot of positives that have come out of government taking action in this manner.”

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/03/19/jeff-landry-big-tech-must-learn-no-one-is-bigger-than-the-people/

Group of 170 Migrants Dug Under Arizona Border Fence, Say Feds

Border Patrol agents in Arizona continue to deal with “large” migrant groups exploiting weaknesses in outdated border technology to illegally enter the U.S. Most recently, human smugglers coordinated the border crossing by a group of more than 170 who dug under a portion of a barrier in the Yuma Sector. Yuma Sector Border Patrol officials tweeted a video on Monday showing a group of 171 migrants digging under an outdated section of border fencing to enter the controlled space between barriers on U.S. soil. The migrants can be seen rushing toward the first Border Patrol agents they can find to surrender and most likely, make requests for asylum.

Border Patrol officials said human smugglers coordinated the illegal border crossing. In the Tucson Sector, Ajo Station agents operating surveillance equipment on Sunday, observed a group of men cutting the wire mesh fence that separates Arizona from Mexico in this region. Two men crawled through the opening and dashed toward an awaiting vehicle. One of the men jumped into a Dodge SUV which sped away before the second migrant could get in, according to information obtained from Tucson Sector Border Patrol officials. The camera operators contacted a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) aircrew to intercept and follow the SUV as it headed north toward the State Route 85 immigration checkpoint.

The vehicle reached the checkpoint and Border Patrol agents conducted an immigration interview. The agents learned the driver (a 36-year-old female) and front seat passenger (a 32-year-old male) were U.S. citizens. The rear passenger allegedly attempted to utilize fraudulent immigration documents to claim legal presence in the U.S. The agents later confirmed the 40-year-old Mexican national was illegally present. The agents arrested the driver and front seat passenger who will face federal human smuggling charges. The Mexican man will be processed for immigration violations according to Tucson Sector guidelines.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2019/03/19/group-of-170-migrants-dug-under-arizona-border-fence-say-feds/