Supreme Court Rules Illegal Immigrants Ineligible to Receive Back Pay

The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision concluded that illegal immigrants are ineligible to receive back pay. The case involved a Los Angeles area chemical plant who hired Jose Castro on the basis of a false Texas birth certificate which appeared to verify his authorization to work in the United States. Castro was fired less than a year later, along with three other employees, for participating in a union-organizing campaign. The National Relations Labor Board (NRLB) found the firings violated the National Labor Relations Act (NRLA) and ordered the chemical plant to pay back pay as well as other forms of relief to the terminated employees. In a hearing before an Administrative Law judge to determine the amount of back pay Castro was eligible for it was discovered he was not authorized to work in the United States and the ALJ ruled that NRLB was precluded from awarding Castro back pay. The Court of Appeals enforced the NRLB’s order awarding Castro back pay. However, the Supreme Court reversed the Board’s order and found that Castro was not eligible to receive back pay.

Chief Justice William H Rehnquist, who authored the majority’s opinion, said that illegal immigrants have no legal authorization to work in the U.S. and allowing illegal immigrant to receive back pay would "trivialize the immigration laws [and] also condone and encourage future violations" if the court allowed them to receive back pay for lost work.

Justice Rehnquist was joined by Justices O’Connor, Scalia, and Thomas joined him. Dissenting were Justices Breyer, Stevens, Souter and Ginsburg who were concerned the Court’s decision would encourage unscrupulous employers to exploit illegal immigrants.

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