The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether states can prosecute illegal aliens for using fraudulent information to obtain employment, the justices announced Monday.

The case, which arose in Kansas, could feature prominently on the court’s docket next term, as it touches illegal immigration and will likely be heard as ballots are cast in the Democratic presidential primary.

“I am encouraged by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear our appeal,” Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican, said in a statement. “We remain convinced Congress did not intend to block Kansas from prosecuting defendants for falsifying state tax forms or private legal documents merely because the defendant also falsified federal employment verification forms.”

The case involves three foreign nationals — Ramiro Garcia, Donaldo Morales and Guadalupe Ochoa-Lara — who entered the country illegally. The trio used stolen Social Security numbers when applying for work in the service industry. All three were convicted of identity theft in Kansas courts.

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