Villegas-Valenzuela v. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Ninth Circuit, No. 95-70767, Decided December 20, 1996

Villegas-Valenzuela v. Immigration and Naturalization Service, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit*, No. 95-70767, Decided December 20, 1996

Decision: The penalties outlined in the Immigration Reform and Control Act for submitting false documentation to gain employment in the U.S. apply to the employees who submit them as well as to the employers who accept them.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) requires employers to verify an individual’s status to work in the U.S. by checking appropriate documentation. The Immigration Act of 1990 makes it unlawful for any person knowingly to use or accept counterfeit, altered, forged, or falsely made documents in order to satisfy the requirements of the IRCA.

Two women worked as housekeepers in two different hotels in Fresno, California. A Border Patrol Agent took them into custody after determining they had used fraudulent social security cards and alien registration cards to prove their eligibility for employment in the U.S. Both women admitted to having bought the documentation from a street vendor in Los Angeles. A check determined that the Alien Registration Numbers they used belonged to other individuals. Both had signed I-9 forms containing the statement, "under penalty of perjury, the documents that I presented as evidence of identity and employment eligibility are genuine and relate to me. I am aware that federal law provides for imprisonment and/or fines for any false statements or use of false documents in connection with this certificate."

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) filed complaints for monetary damages from each, in accordance with the provisions of IRCA, which allowed for a penalty of $250 for each fraudulent document used. The women argued the statute did not apply to them as employees.

The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) granted summary judgment for the INS, and the women appealed.

Section 1324c(a) of the IRCA provides, in part, that it is unlawful for any person or entity to knowingly “use, attempt to use, possess, obtain, accept, receive, or to provide any forged, counterfeit, altered, or falsely made document in order to satisfy any requirement of this chapter…”

The women alleged that the part stating, “in order to satisfy any requirement of this chapter” precluded the actions against them because it only applied to employers, not employees. While the Court acceded that most of the requirements of that section apply to employers, the Court held that the language of the statute does nothing to limit the scope of its applicability; it refers to any “person,” not any “employer.”

The Court upheld the ALJ’s determination that the women were subject to the penalties provided for in the IRCA.

* The Ninth Circuit covers the states of California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Alaska, and Hawaii.