Constitutional Rights of Undocumented Citizens

It is no secret that President Trump does not support immigrants' rights. Under many different circumstances, Trump has tweeted things saying that immigrants should return "from where they came" with "no judges or court cases". My law and society project was on the topic of rights for undocumented citizens which began to make me wonder what constitutional rights are given to undocumented citizens and how they are actually being upheld by the Trump administration. According to the constitution, Immigrants have the right to due process, right to legal counsel, right to vote or hold office, right to education, and right against unreasonable search and seizures. However, these rights are often not upheld and the justice system clearly ignores the violations.

One of the court cases that my group studied for the law and society project was Jennings v. Rodriguez which concerned the right of due process for undocumented immigrants. The case was really unclear over whether immigrants actually had the right to due process. The fifth amendment states that "no person … shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." which should include illegal aliens. The right to due process for immigrants was supported by the Reno v. Flores case which states that the Fifth Amendment entitles aliens to due process rights especially regarding deportation.

However, while the law may state that undocumented immigrants have due process rights it is often not supported by the government. Many immigrants who are facing deportation are not even given a hearing. Legislation such as the illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 have been created to go around the law which allows for "expedited removal" in immigration cases. The expedited removal process allows for any immigrants who have been in the country for less than 2 years or were picked up within 100 miles of the border to be deported almost immediately without even being considered for a hearing.

In my opinion, because it has been decided that undocumented immigrants have due process rights they should actually be given those rights. Deportation is a huge and scary process and immigrants should be given a hearing to at least be given a chance to prove why they belong in the country. Legislation that goes around the ruling of the Supreme Court should not be allowed because immigrants are clearly not being given the rights they deserve.