Opinion ID: 1207883
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Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Labor Code section 1850 encroaches upon the congressional scheme for immigration and naturalization.

Text: [1] Congress possesses the exclusive right to regulate immigration and naturalization. ( Fong Yue Ting v. United States (1893) 149 U.S. 698 [37 L.Ed. 905, 13 S.Ct. 1016]; U.S. Const., art. I, § 8, cl. 4.) [6] State laws which substantially encroach upon the exercise of this power cannot stand. [7] [2-4] Courts have invalidated three types of state laws as infringements upon the competence of Congress to act in this area: (1) A state may not attempt to regulate or control immigration as such, ( Henderson v. Mayor of New York, supra, 92 U.S. 259 [23 L.Ed 543].) (2) A state law which burdens the general congressional power to admit aliens cannot be upheld. ( Truax v. Raich, supra, 239 U.S. 33 [60 L.Ed. 131, 36 S.Ct. 7].) (3) When the Congress has enacted a comprehensive scheme for the regulation of a particular aspect of immigration and naturalization, a state law may not stand as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress. ( Hines v. Davidowitz, supra, 312 U.S. 52, 67 [85 L.Ed. 581, 586, 61 S.Ct. 399].) (Fn. omitted.) Labor Code section 1850 does not purport to regulate or control immigration as such. To some extent, however, section 1850 deters immigration and the subsequent entry of otherwise lawfully admitted aliens into California because it deprives them of the right to work upon public works. The United States Supreme Court, in Truax v. Raich, supra, 239 U.S. 33, held that an Arizona law, which effectively deterred interstate migration of aliens by imposing a substantial limitation upon employment opportunities, interfered with the power of the federal government to admit such persons to this country under acts of Congress. [8] Nevertheless, that court has upheld state laws applying exclusively to its alien inhabitants as a class when the state seeks to protect an existent special public interest and when the state law generates merely an incidental effect on immigration. [9] [5] Regardless of whether section 1850 promotes a special public interest of this state, [10] we have concluded that the section must fail because it encroaches upon, and interferes with, a comprehensive regulatory scheme enacted by Congress in the exercise of its exclusive power over immigration. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended (8 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq.) provides that all immigrants, excepting immediate relatives of United States citizens or of lawfully admitted resident aliens, who seek to enter the United States for the purpose of performing skilled or unskilled labor shall be excluded unless the Secretary of Labor certifies that there are not (A) sufficient workers in the United States who are able, willing, qualified, and available at the time (of application for a visa and admission to the United States and place to which the alien is destined) to perform such skilled or unskilled labor, or (B) the employment of such aliens will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of the workers in the United States similarly employed. (8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(14).) Although the Secretary may pass upon applications for certification upon an individual basis, more often certification depends upon preexisting determinations that certain occupations are experiencing labor shortages within the United States. From time to time, the Secretary publishes schedules of such occupations in the Federal Register. [11] Other labor-related provisions within the act create preferences for admission based upon the applicant's capability of performing specified skilled or unskilled labor for which labor shortages exist in this country (8 U.S.C. § 1153(a)(6)) or upon the applicant's possession of professional training or exceptional ability in the sciences or arts. (8 U.S.C. § 1153(a) (3).) Finally, an alien seeking to enter this country as a nonimmigrant in order to perform services or labor must establish that (1) he is of distinguished merit and ability and is coming to this country to perform temporary services of an exceptional nature requiring such merit and ability, or (2) the services or labor sought to be performed are such that unemployed persons capable of performing such services cannot be found in this country. (8 U.S.C. §§ 1184(b), 1101(a) (15) (H).) The labor controls for immigrants reflect an intention to protect the American labor market from an influx of both skilled and unskilled foreign labor. (Senate Report No. 748, Judiciary Committee, First Sess., 89th Cong., 1965 U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News 3328, 3333-3334.) Moreover, the act encourages the entry of both immigrants and nonimmigrants possessing those skills or kinds of labor which this country needs. The Legislative Assistant to the House Judiciary Committee which passed upon the 1952 act noted that, the Act tends to serve the interests of the national economy, the cultural interests and the welfare of the United States by facilitating the entry for temporary residence of aliens whose specialized experience or exceptional ability would best serve the American needs. (Besterman, Commentary on the Immigration and Nationality Act (1953) 8 U.S.C.A. 1, 43.) In light of the comprehensive federal scheme for dealing with the admission of aliens who seek to enter the American labor market, any state legislation affecting this same subject matter runs a high risk of conflict with the supreme law. [6] Thus, Labor Code section 1850 frustrates the accomplishment and execution of the purposes and objectives of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended. For example, the Secretary of Labor has certified that we face a nationwide shortage of architects and civil engineers. (29 C.F.R. (1969) pt. 60, sched. A.) If an architect specializing in public buildings or a civil engineer concentrating on highway construction seeks to immigrate to the United States and settle in California, the federal government, assuming he is otherwise qualified for admission, welcomes his immigration and may even grant him an immigration preference. [12] The State of California, however, virtually forbids him to make a living in this state. [7] Moreover, section 1850 interferes with the federal scheme for admission of nonimmigrants to perform temporary but essential services in this country; regardless of the national interest at stake, excepting national defense in time of war, California prevents such persons from performing otherwise valuable services simply because they labor upon public works. [13] [8] Under such circumstances the state statute encroaches upon the federal power over immigration; a state can neither add to nor take from the conditions lawfully imposed by Congress upon admission, naturalization and residence of aliens in the United States or the several states. ( Takahashi v. Fish & Game Com., supra, 334 U.S. at p. 419 [92 L.Ed. at p. 1487].) [9] The assertion of an authority to deny to aliens the opportunity of earning a livelihood when lawfully admitted to the state would be tantamount to the assertion of the right to deny them entrance and abode, for in ordinary cases they cannot live where they cannot work. ( Truax v. Raich, supra, 239 U.S. at p. 42 [60 L.Ed. at p. 135].) Finally, a state law cannot stand as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress. ( Hines v. Davidowitz, supra, 312 U.S. at p. 67 [85 L.Ed. at p. 586].) States, of course, may deal with matters of special concern which fall within their traditional legislative competence. Indeed, on this basis, the United States Supreme Court upheld a statute similar to Labor Code section 1850 in the case of Heim v. McCall, supra, 239 U.S. 175. We note, however, that the sufficiency of the state's proprietary interest over public employment may be insufficient on equal protection grounds to sustain the exclusion of aliens from an otherwise lawful enterprise. [14] Notwithstanding our doubts as to the remaining validity of the Heim decision, we may distinguish that case from the one before us on the ground that Heim did not involve a conflict with specific congressional legislation. (See Hines v. Davidowitz, supra, 312 U.S. at p. 69 & fn. 23 [85 L.Ed. at p. 588].) In the present case, Congress has enacted a comprehensive federal scheme for immigration which seeks to regulate alien employment to some extent. Nevertheless, defendant argues that California pursues the legitimate objective of the protection of the California labor market. But, the Secretary of Labor considers not only nationwide employment conditions but also regional, state, and local conditions. [15] He may decide, consistently with section 1850, that aliens seeking to settle in California and labor in the contract construction field or otherwise upon public works may not enter the country. On the other hand, however, he may determine to the contrary; in the face of such a determination and actual conflict, Labor Code section 1850 could not stand. [10] We need not await an instance of actual conflict to strike down a state law which purports to regulate a subject matter which the Congress simultaneously aims to control. The opportunity for potential conflict is too great to permit the operation of the state law. [16] California need not, however, abandon its concern for the state labor market. The gross remedy of section 1850 may not stand, but the state may and should inform the Secretary of Labor and other federal officials concerning the labor conditions within California and within particular industries or occupations. California does not remain, therefore, without power to act, but merely without power to act with final authority upon a matter for which Congress has determined that one national policy administered by the federal government should prevail. California, with its blanket prohibition of alien employment upon public works, does interfere with the federal scheme. Section 1850 deters, if not effectively prevents, the entry or immigration of certain aliens who federal officers have determined, or might determine, possess a trade or skills which would enable them to contribute to the general welfare of the nation. To sustain section 1850 is to place a roadblock in the way of federal decision-makers and to sanction the frustration of a valid congressional purpose. [17] We submit that the rigid prohibition of section 1850 must fail in the face of a conflicting federal exercise of power; Labor Code section 1850 encroaches upon the congressional scheme for immigration and naturalization and must be declared void.