Immigration
How Much More Merit Do You Need Than Saving American Lives?
Testing Federal Power Over Immigration
An upcoming birthright citizenship case at the Supreme Court could give some insight as to whether Donald Trump’s proposed ban on immigration could pass Constitutional muster. The “plenary power doctrine” essentially holds that Congress can make distinctions among immigrants—including some based on sex, race, and national origin—that (as the Court said in 1976) “would be unacceptable if applied to citizens.”