In Balbuena v. IDR Realty LLC (6 NY3d 338, 812 N.Y.S.2d 416 [2006]), the Court of Appeals held that an award of damages for lost wages to an undocumented alien who is injured on the job is not preempted by federal immigration policy. The court in Balbuena noted that there was no evidence that the plaintiffs therein violated IRCA by submitting fraudulent documents to their employers at the time they were hired, and that although it was not lawful for said plaintiffs to be employed in this country, the type of work performed was lawful and as no statute makes it a crime to be employed without proper documentation, and thus the plaintiffs were not precluded from recovering damages for lost wages. In addition, the Court observed that the plaintiffs' inability to mitigate damages did not preclude recovery as they both had allegedly sustained injuries that would preclude them from being employed at any time in the future, and that the jury could take into account the plaintiffs' immigration status.