supreme court
A divided Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that illegal immigrants who use someone else's information when filling out tax forms for employment can face criminal charges, despite federal laws that liberal justices claim should prohibit such cases.

The Immigration Control and Reform Act (IRCA) makes it a federal crime to lie on the I-9 work authorization form, while limiting how the false information can be used. Federal law also says information "contained in" the I-9 cannot be used for law enforcement other than specified exceptions -- but the Supreme Court ruled that if workers use the same information in tax documents, they can face charges.

"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," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the court's opinion, which was joined by fellow conservatives Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh.

The IRCA also prohibits state or local charges or civil cases against "those who employ, or recruit or refer for a fee for employment, unauthorized aliens," but Alito noted that this "makes no mention of state or local laws that impose criminal or civil sanctions on employees or applicants for employment."