Fifth Circuit Affirms Illegal Aliens Do Not Have Second Amendment Rights

A three-judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed Tuesday illegal aliens do not have Second Amendment rights.

They did so by pointing to United States v. Portillo-Munoz, “which prohibits an illegal alien from possessing a firearm or ammunition.”

This prohibition was challenged by Defendant-Appellant Jose Paz Medina-Cantu, who was arrested July 13, 2022, for ” possession of a firearm and ammunition as an illegal alien…and illegal reentry into the United States.” Medina-Cantu argued that the firearm charges should be dismissed in light of Bruen (2022), but the Fifth Circuit explained that Bruen did not alter the prohibition contained in Portillo-Munoz.

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The three-judge panel noted, “Portillo-Munoz… is constitutional under the Second Amendment, reasoning that the phrase ‘the people’ in the Second Amendment does not include aliens unlawfully present in the United States.”

They also noted Rahimi (2024) did not remove Portillo-Munoz’s prohibition against illegal aliens possessing firearms.

Breitbart News pointed to a July 31, 2024, supplemental letter brief in which the U.S. Government contended that “illegal aliens” do not have Second Amendment rights.

The supplemental letter brief was submitted in response to a “directive to address the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Rahimi (2024).”

In the July 31, 2024, supplemental letter brief submitted by the DOJ, the U.S. Government contends that the prohibitions related to “illegal aliens” and firearms, contained in 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5)(A), remain constitutional:

The U.S. Government observed: “Nothing in Rahimi undermines this Court’s reasoning. To the contrary, the Supreme Court in Rahimi emphasized what its prior precedents observed: the Second Amendment extends to ‘ordinary citizens.’”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.