A federal court has decided that lawful immigrants are now allowed to carry firearms. Currently, it appears that illegal immigrants enjoy the same rights as citizens of the United States, but not nearly as many obligations. According to a ruling by U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, an illegal immigrant's Second Amendment rights were infringed upon when he was accused of illegally carrying weapons. Heriberto Carbajal-Flores, an undocumented immigrant, was accused in this case under 18 U.S.C. §922, a federal provision that forbids unauthorized immigrants from carrying firearms or ammunition. Judge Coleman, however, found that Carbajal-Flores' constitutional right to keep and carry guns is violated when this legislation is applied to him.
As required by the Supreme Court in 2022, the defense team successfully claimed that the government had not shown how the act is consistent with America's long history of regulating firearms. They argued that lifetime disarmament without reference to nationality or alienage is not grounded in American history or custom. Judge Coleman said that it was remarkable because Carbajal-Flores had never before been found guilty of a felony, a violent crime, or a weapons infraction. She even agreed with his assertion that he had only ever used the firearm for self-defense during a known moment of civic turmoil.
This decision has extremely alarming ramifications. By giving illegal aliens protection under the Second Amendment, the court has essentially put noncitizens' rights ahead of American citizens' security and safety. It creates a risky precedent that may increase armed illegal immigration, further jeopardizing the US's already taxed immigration enforcement apparatus. Furthermore, the consistency and coherence of the legal system are seriously called into doubt by this ruling. What justification is there for giving constitutional gun rights to those who have deliberately broken immigration rules when law-abiding folks are seeing more and more limitations placed on their Second Amendment liberties?
