University of Dayton
eCommons
Stander Symposium Posters
Stander Symposium
4-18-2012
US Immigration: The Power Struggle Between the
States and Federal Government
Sariana L. Garcia
University of Dayton, [email protected]
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Recommended Citation
Garcia, Sariana L., "US Immigration: The Power Struggle Between the States and Federal Government" (2012). Stander Symposium
Posters. Book 69.
http://ecommons.udayton.edu/stander_posters/69
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US Immigration: The Power Struggle Between States and the
Federal Government
Sariana García Ocasio
Dr. Juan Santamarina
Research Question: Who has the authority over immigration legislation in the United
States according to the Constitution and Supreme Court decisions?
Growing rate of unauthorized
immigrants in the United States
Provisions of the US Constitution
related to immigration
• 
• 
• 
The problem: Who controls
immigration?
•  The US Constitution does not mention the
word “immigration” in its text
•  Historically, Congress and the Supreme
Court have delegated the authority over
immigration to the Federal government.
•  Recent wave of States pushing local antiimmigrant legislation (modeled after
Arizona’s SB 1070 passed in 2010) puts this
issue in the forefront of the immigration
debate.
Article 1, Section 8: Gives Congress authority
over the naturalization, or citizenship process.
By default, this gives Congress the power to
define who is a citizen and who remains as an
immigrant.
Fourteenth Amendment, Section1: Deprives
States from establishing laws that would
violate basic rights of persons despite their
immigrant status. These rights include life,
liberty, or property, and equal protection of the
laws.
Fourteenth Amendment, Section 5: Reiterates
Congress’ the power to regulate the meaning
of citizenship.
Case Study: Arizona’s SB 1070
•  Main provisions: Allows the investigation of the
immigration status of “suspicious” persons after
being lawfully detained for something else and
criminalizes the act of harboring, shielding, or
transporting illegal aliens
•  Identified violations of the bill:
-14 th Amendment and Equal Protection
Clause- subjects minorities to stops,
detentions, and arrests based on their
physical appearance and ethnic origin.
-14th Amendment – permits unreasonable
searches without a warrant or probable
cause.
US Supreme Court Decisions
•  US Supreme Court is the official interpreter of
the Constitution
•  Yick Wo v. Hopkins – 1886 SC Case: The
Supreme Court found that the administration
of the statute was discriminatory and violated
the provisions of the 14th Amendment
•  LULAC et al. v. Wilson et al. – 1995 Federal
Circuit Court: The federal circuit court ruled
that Prop. 187 was a violation of the equal
protection clause of the 14th Amendment, and
that many of the actions it legalized were
preempted by federal law.
Conclusion
Immigration is a task assigned to the Federal
g o v e r n m e n t a c c o r d i n g t o t h e o ff i c i a l
interpretation US Constitution.
Many states that are designing laws to control
immigration locally are preempting federal
powers, and also tend to implement measures
that could infringe immigrants’ basic human
rights.