1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Federal Regulation of Alien Employment and Preemption over State Laws November 4, 2020 The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) established rules governing the employment of non-U.S. national
2、s (aliens) in the United States. IRCA made it unlawful for employers to knowingly hire “unauthorized aliens” who lack federal permission to work in this country. The statute also created an employment verification system to determine an employees work eligibility. IRCAs comprehensive scheme for regu
3、lating alien employment displaced a considerable amount of state regulation. But questions remain about the degree of that displacement. In the last decade, the Supreme Court considered several challenges to state laws regulating the employment of aliens. These challenges centered on whether IRCA pr
4、eempted those state laws, rendering them unenforceable. The Court has held that certain state laws regulating alien employment are preempted because they intrude upon the federal governments regulatory domain, such as those imposing criminal penalties upon unauthorized aliens who seek employment. Bu