State governments received an assist from an unlikely source to set and enforce stiff penalties for identity thieves, including illegal aliens.

The normally left-leaning 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Arizona’s ID theft laws do not impinge on the Constitution or otherwise infringe on the federal government’s responsibility to set national immigration policies. The case involves two laws that provide a legal basis for worksite raids for illegals and make it a felony to use a bogus ID to seek employment.

A three-judge panel reversed a lower court’s preliminary injunction, pressed by the apologists for illegal immigration. As Judge Richard C. Tallman writes in the unanimous decision, “In this case, Arizona exercised its police powers to pass criminal laws that apply equally to unauthorized aliens, authorized aliens and U.S. citizens.”

Immigration “rights” groups argued that Arizona’s laws amount to immigration enforcement, a federal responsibility. But the appeals court found that the laws, as written, do not single out illegals.

It’s not surprising, however, that since Arizona beefed up its ID laws, the number of illegals in that state has dropped dramatically since 2007, The Washington Times reports.

When it comes to weeding out identity thieves and the fraud they perpetuate, whether they’re in the United States legally or otherwise, the states clearly are within their rights to do so.

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