Immaigration Article of the Day: Undocumented Immigrants Caught in the Crossfire: Resolving the Circuit Split on ‘The People’ and the Applicable Level of Scrutiny for Second Amendment Challenges by Maria Stracqualursi
Undocumented Immigrants Caught in the Crossfire: Resolving the Circuit Split on ‘The People’ and the Applicable Level of Scrutiny for Second Amendment Challenges by Maria Stracqualursi, April 18, 2016, Boston College Law Review, Forthcoming
Abstract: The circuits are now split as to whether undocumented immigrants are entitled to Second Amendment rights. In 2015, the Seventh Circuit in U.S. v. Meza became the first circuit to explicitly hold that undocumented immigrants are part of “the people” in the U.S. Constitution. This case added to the recent explosion in Second Amendment jurisprudence that has toiled with the scope of the right and what level of scrutiny to apply to constitutional challenges. This Note argues that the U.S. Supreme Court should have granted certiorari in Meza-Rodriguez to clarify that undocumented immigrants are entitled to Second Amendment protections when they have established substantial connections to the United States. In doing so, this Note discusses the shift in Second Amendment interpretation that has occurred in the last decade and how it applies to undocumented immigrants. Given similar language within the Amendments, the resolution of this circuit split has potential implications for the First and Fourth Amendments which protect millions of undocumented immigrants from government abuse.
KJ