Immigration Article of the Day: Equal Protection Exceptionalism by Jenny-Brooke Condon

Equal Protection Exceptionalism by Jenny-Brooke Condon, Rutgers Law Review, Vol. 69, No. 563, 2017

Abstract

Equal protection doctrine addressed to immigrants’ rights is thoroughly exceptional. It is an amalgam of super-deference, suspect class treatment, and even intermediate scrutiny, depending upon whether immigrants are present in the United States lawfully or not, and whether a state or federal classification is at issue. No other area of equal protection law modulates equal protection scrutiny in this way, producing unparalleled complexity and tension within the doctrine–and ultimately undermining equality. It is time to rethink the doctrine.

KJ