The issue focused on court rulings that permitted federal agencies to sue states for enforcement of laws that criminalize illegal immigration. The Supreme Court said states could sue federal agencies if federal laws criminalizing illegal immigration were applied to them.

In court rulings in 2010 and 2012, federal courts held that federal criminal laws criminalizing illegal immigration could be enforced against illegal immigrants and government employees in states that criminalized illegal immigration.

In court rulings in 2012 and 2014, federal courts held that federal criminal laws criminalizing illegal immigration