A federal appeals court has ruled that individuals unlawfully present in the U.S. do not have Second Amendment rights, reaffirming that illegal aliens are prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on Tuesday that individuals unlawfully present in the United States do not have rights under the Second Amendment. The court reaffirmed its previous decision in *United States v. Portillo-Munoz*, which prohibits illegal aliens from possessing firearms or ammunition.
This decision came in response to a legal challenge by Jose Paz Medina-Cantu, who was arrested on July 13, 2022, for possessing a firearm and ammunition while unlawfully in the U.S., as well as for illegal reentry. Medina-Cantu sought to have the charges dismissed based on the Supreme Court’s ruling in *Bruen* (2022), but the Fifth Circuit held that *Bruen* did not change the precedent set by *Portillo-Munoz*.
The panel explained that *Portillo-Munoz* remains constitutional, noting that the Second Amendment’s protection of “the people” does not extend to individuals who are illegally in the country. The court also clarified that the Supreme Court’s ruling in *United States v. Rahimi* (2024) did not overturn this prohibition.
In a July 31, 2024 supplemental letter brief, the U.S. Government reiterated that the restrictions on illegal aliens and firearms under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5)(A) remain constitutional. The brief emphasized that the Second Amendment is intended to protect the rights of "ordinary citizens," as reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in *Rahimi*.
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