State Penalties for Violation of the INA

Written by Gary K. Silberman, Esq.

Section 3 of the Arizona statute makes it a misdemeanor to willfully fail to complete or carry an alien registration document, which basically creates a state crime for a violation of a federal law. The unconstitutionality of this section was easy to determine. The Supreme Court has already found that the “power to restrict, limit, regulate, and register aliens” is not a power to be shared by the states and the federal government. Any authority that a state possesses is subordinate to federal law. This is because when the federal government chooses to act in a comprehensive manner in an area in which it is authorized to act, such as immigration, a state cannot conflict, interfere with, curtail or complement, the laws enacted by the federal government. Further, if a state statute interferes with “the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress., it will be preempted.

The court found that the “federal alien registration requirements create an integrated and comprehensive system of registration.” Although the court conceded that the INA may leave some room for limited state action, creating a state crime for violation of a federal law goes too far. Congress enacted a law regarding requirements for alien registration and identification. It enacted penalties for violations of that law. If the Arizona law were allowed to stand, the penalty in that state for violation of the federal law would be different than in all other states. By creating new, state penalties, Arizona disrupted the uniformity of federal law. Because of this, the court found that Section 3 of the Arizona immigration law is likely to be unconstitutional and enjoined enforcement of that law.