3 said that a $100 fine and thirty days of imprisonment would be imposed upon any non-citizen or immigrant that lies about their place of birth or citizenship to a potential employer.
He was employed by William Truax Sr., at a local bakery in Bisbee, Arizona, and began work at that establishment before the 1914 law was ratified and imposed.
Upon imposition, Raich was informed by Truax that his employment would be terminated, “solely by reason of [the law’s] requirements and because of the fear of the penalties that would be incurred in case of its violation.
[3] Justice Charles Evans Hughes delivered the majority opinion on Truax, stating the “right to work for a living in the common occupations of the community is of the very essence of the personal freedom and opportunity that it was the purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment to secure.” [3] The ruling drew precedent from previous cases of similar theme.
The Court decided in favor of Yick Wo and Wo Lee’s rights under the Equal Protection Clause, and Justice Stanley Matthews’ opinion stated, “'These provisions, are universal in their application, to all persons within the territorial jurisdiction, without regard to any differences of race, of color, or of nationality; and the equal protection of the laws is a pledge of the protection of equal laws.’” [4] In Truax v. Raich, the 1915 Court held that: Justice James Clark McReynolds offered a single dissenting opinion to the Truax decision.