(The Center Square) – Despite being declared ineligible for unemployment benefits by the state, an immigrant received over $11,000 after moving back to Mexico; he claims he was available for remote work, and while a judge disagreed with that on Tuesday, he still won’t have to repay the state.
Elhier Montiel Flores, a Mexican citizen, returned home in July 2023. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program allowed him to live and work in Washington state, but when he quit his job and moved back to Mexico, it made him ineligible to reenter the country legally.
However, Montiel Flores continued to receive unemployment benefits from the state from July 16 to December 16, 2023. According to a July 15 opinion from the Washington State Court of Appeals Division III, the Employment Security Department sent him $11,066 during that period.
“The commissioner did not err in concluding Mr. Montiel Flores was ineligible for unemployment benefits after his work authorization expired,” the court wrote in the opinion after Montiel Flores appealed ESD’s determination that he was ineligible for unemployment benefits.
According to the court filing, ESD contacted Montiel Flores in early 2024 about his current work authorization status. He informed ESD that his status had expired in February, but he had returned to Mexico back in July. ESD then retroactively denied his benefits, effective July 16, 2023.
Initially, ESD found Montiel Flores at fault for the “overpayments of benefits,” and said he would be liable for repayment. Montiel Flores then appealed to the Office of Administrative Hearings, or OAH, with a judge affirming ESD’s denial of benefits, but not that he was at fault for the overpayment.
The second opinion led Montiel Flores to appeal to ESD, which issued two decisions. The first declared him ineligible for benefits when his work authorization expired in February 2024. The second decision, however, declared Montiel Flores ineligible as he left the country in July 2023.
Montiel Flores argued that ESD erred by issuing two conflicting opinions that could have impacted his eligibility for unemployment in 2023. Thurston County Superior Court reviewed the ESD decisions but transferred the petitions to the Washington State Court of Appeals Division III.
“Montiel Flores argues that he meets the criteria of WAC 192-170-010(4)%20If%20you,partner%20is%20stationed.) because he is legally authorized to work in Mexico and is capable of working remotely. We disagree,” the court wrote.
The court stated in its ruling that his argument ignores federal authority. While the Washington Administrative Code, or WAC, may align with his perspective, federal law supersedes state law.
Federal law defines “available for work in the United States” as “legally authorized to work that week in the United States by the appropriate agency of the United States government.” Montiel Flores’ status expired on Feb. 11, 2024, so he didn’t have authorization during the appeals.
Montiel Flores also argued that ESD violated the timeframe allowed by state law to redetermine his 2023 eligibility; however, to appeal, he must have been “aggrieved or prejudiced by the judgment.”
Since ESD agreed with OAH that it improperly redetermined his eligibility, but that Montiel Flores did not engage in fraud, misrepresentation, or nondisclosure, he isn’t required to repay them. However, this also means he was still ineligible from July 16 to Dec. 16, 2023, when he was still collecting benefits, and to February 2024, when his authorization expired.
“Because Mr. Montiel Flores is not aggrieved by the commissioner’s ruling, he lacks standing to raise this issue on appeal,” the appeals court concluded.
So, while the court ruled that Montiel Flores didn’t need to repay the benefits, it also said that he had no grounds to continue challenging his eligibility, since ESD had technically already handed him a win.
