Running head: WEEK 4 IRAC BRIEF 1

Week 4 IRAC Brief

Anthony Montes, Dima Gammoh, Leah Osmena, Umang Mehta
LAW / 531
4/2/2014
Ashraf Atiyeh, MS, JD
WEEK 4 IRAC BRIEF 2


Week 4 IRAC Brief
Case: Jose Castro among other colleagues was laid off after supporting a union- organizing
campaign at the Hoffman Plastic Compounds Inc. Jose Castro was hired on the basis of
documents verifying his authorization to work in the United States. The Respondent National
Labor Relations Board (Board) found that the layoffs violated the National Labor Relations Act
(NLRA); therefore they ordered back pay and other relief to the employees.
Castro testified that he is an illegal alien. The ALJ found that the Board was precluded
from awarding Castro relief by Sure-Tan, Inc. v. NLRB, 467 U. S. 883, and by the Immigration
Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), which makes it unlawful for employers knowingly to
hire undocumented workers or for employees to use fraudulent documents to establish
employment eligibility.
Issue: Is the employer required to back pay undocumented or illegal workers if they were
illegally fired? Also can employers knowingly hire undocumented workers?
Rule: Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986, 11 which is administered by the
USCIS, requires employers to verify whether prospective employees are either U.S. citizens or
otherwise authorized to work in the country.
NLRA gives employees the right to join together to form a union. NLRA protects
undocumented workers in the same manner as to other employees.
Analysis: Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) established an employment verification
system 8 U.S.C 1324a (a) (1) designed to deny employment to aliens who are not lawfully
present or authorized to work in the US. It is a crime to subvert the verification system by
WEEK 4 IRAC BRIEF 3


tendering fraudulent documents. Because Castro broke the law when using a friends
paperwork, he then is entitled to nothing.
Conclusion: The National Labor Workers Board ruled no back pay to illegal aliens because of
the federal immigration policies. If the Board allowed the back pay, it would encourage the
more illegal aliens to violate laws and condone prior violations to request back pay. The law
does apply to these circumstances very clearly An undocumented alien who provided fraudulent
work papers in violation of federal law could not be awarded back pay for work not performed as
a result of an employer's unfair labor practice. (Gomez v. F & T INT'L LLC, 2007)
Legal Application: The United States has struggled with the issue of unauthorized immigration
and immigration reform before. The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) was the
product of that struggle, and provides valuable lessons as immigration reform options are
considered today. IRCA was the first and most comprehensive legislation in United States
immigration policy to take on the issue of unauthorized migration, utilizing both legalization
programs to regularize migrants already in the country and stronger enforcement mechanisms to
prevent new entries.
The debate that led to IRCA lasted over a decade, with forms of the eventual bill by
Congressman Mazzoli and Senator Simpson proposed in the Congress as early as 1982. The
reform that was eventually passed was the product of four sets of political compromises. Those
compromises were: A link between stronger enforcement of immigration law, both at the border
and inside the country, and legalization of the unauthorized immigrant population.


WEEK 4 IRAC BRIEF 4



Reference:

Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB, 535 US 137 - Supreme Court
2002. (2002). Retrieved from
http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3191104415604078698&q=HOFFMAN+PLASTI
C+COMPOUNDS,+INC.+v.+NATIONAL+LABOR+RELATIONS+BOARD&hl=en&as_sdt=2
006&as_vis=1
Gomez v. F & T INT'L LLC, 16 Misc. 3d 867 - NY: Supreme Court 2007