A district judge ruled that illegal immigrants can possess a firearm and prohibiting them from doing so would be unconstitutional.
Although federal law prohibits illegal immigrants from carrying weapons, the court recently ruled that Heriberto Carbajal-Flores, an illegal immigrant, was wrongly prohibited from possessing a gun. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, appointed by former President Barack Obama, stated that "the non-citizen possession statute, 18 USC § 922(g)(5), violates the Second Amendment."
Ruling in Illegal Immigrant... by Veronica Silveri
The case dates back to 2020
In 2020, Heriberto Carbajal-Flores, an illegal immigrant, was accused of carrying a firearm in Chicago. The defendant's lawyers tried to dismiss the case on two different occasions. However, they were unsuccessful until now.
In the most recent motion, the lawyers relied on a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that "the government must then justify its regulation by demonstrating that it is consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Only then may a court conclude that the individual’s conduct falls outside the Second Amendment’s 'unqualified command.'"
The lawyers argued that the government could not demonstrate that the federal law prohibiting illegal immigrants from carrying weapons is "part of the historical tradition that delimits the outer bounds of the right to keep and bear arms":
Lifetime disarmament of an individual based on alienage or nationality alone does not have roots in the history and tradition of the United States.
Other failures were also highlighted. Among them, one appeals court declared that stripping someone convicted of a nonviolent crime of his gun rights was unconstitutional. After the plea, the judges ruled in favor of Carbajal-Flores:
The government argues that Carbajal-Flores is a noncitizen who is unlawfully present in this country. The court notes, however, that Carbajal-Flores has never been convicted of a felony, a violent crime, or a crime involving the use of a weapon. Even in the present case, Carbajal-Flores contends that he received and used the handgun solely for self-protection and protection of property during a time of documented civil unrest in the Spring of 2020.
Additionally, Pretrial Service has confirmed that Carbajal-Flores has consistently adhered to and fulfilled all the stipulated conditions of his release, is gainfully employed, and has no new arrests or outstanding warrants. The court finds that Carbajal-Flores’ criminal record, containing no improper use of a weapon, as well as the non-violent circumstances of his arrest do not support a finding that he poses a risk to public safety such that he cannot be trusted to use a weapon responsibly and should be deprived of his Second Amendment right to bear arms in self-defense.
