Thread: Supreme Court ruling won't affect Utah immigration laws

Supreme Court ruling won't affect Utah immigration laws
Identity theft » Utah focusing on those who sell forged papers, not those who hold them.
By Sheena Mcfarland

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated: 05/05/2009 07:38:12 PM MDT


Federal law enforcement officials say they will continue enforcing immigration laws in the same way despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

The court ruled that undocumented immigrants who have false papers may be charged with aggravated identity theft only if they know they are stealing the identity of an actual person.

Judges and attorneys have operated under that idea for the last couple of years, including the raids of the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Hyrum, said U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman. During the raids, Utah was one of the only states that did not go after immigrants who had false documents, but rather focused on the people who were selling the forged papers, he said.

“Some of it comes as a result of our district judges being up on top of this issue. That level of criminal intent needs to be there,â€

Well they knew it didn't belong to them, the way I look at it case closed!