Bernardino Fuentes-Espinoza, Petitioner v. the People of the State of Colorado, Respondent

Summary

The court exercised its discretion to review Fuentes-Espinoza’s unpreserved federal-preemption claim and held that the INA preempts Colorado’s human smuggling statute under both field and conflict preemption. The court determined that federal law creates a comprehensive and uniform framework governing transportation, concealment, and inducement of unlawfully present aliens, while Colorado’s statute imposes different penalties and reaches conduct outside that federal framework. The court reversed the court of appeals and remanded with instructions to vacate the human-smuggling convictions. Justice Eid, dissenting and joined by Justices Coats and Boatright, would have held that the state statute protects passengers and does not conflict with federal immigration enforcement.