Bartholomew Roberts
Moderator
In United States vs. Portillo-Munoz, the Fifth Circuit has ruled that illegal immigrants have no Second Amendment rights. They reason that illegal immigrants are not part of "a class of persons who are part of a national community or who have otherwise developed sufficient connection with this country to be considered part of that community." (The test from Verdugo-Urquidez). In addition the Court cited references in the Heller decision indicating that the Second Amendment right belonged to "law-abiding, responsible citizens", "all members of the political community", and "strong presumption that the Second Amendment right is exercised individually and belongs to all Americans."
As usual, the Volokh Conspiracy has ane excellent discussion of the decision.
There is nothing really earth-shattering or shocking in the decision; but I thought it was interesting in that it fleshed out the boundaries of who the Second Amendment applies to and it was also a case that had completely escaped my attention despite my interest in Second Amendment cases.
As usual, the Volokh Conspiracy has ane excellent discussion of the decision.
There is nothing really earth-shattering or shocking in the decision; but I thought it was interesting in that it fleshed out the boundaries of who the Second Amendment applies to and it was also a case that had completely escaped my attention despite my interest in Second Amendment cases.