A federal judge in Illinois appointed by President Barack Obama ruled that the Constitution protects the rights of noncitizens who enter the US illegally after a Mexican immigrant living in Chicago was found in possession of a handgun.
US District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ruled earlier this month that a federal ban on undocumented immigrants owning firearms is unconstitutional, and dismissed charges against Heriberto Carbajal-Flores, who was arrested in 2020 after violating a federal law that prohibits noncitizens from possessing guns.
Coleman ruled that since Carbajal-Flores has no criminal record and the circumstances behind his arrest were not violent, he should not be deprived of his Second Amendment right to bear arms in self-defense, Fox News Digital reported.
He was charged under Title 18 of the US Criminal Code, which bans noncitizens from possessing firearms and ammunition “or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.”
Carbajal-Flores maintained that he purchased the firearm for self-defense and protection of property “during a time of documented civil unrest” in the spring of 2020 during the height of George Floyd protests across the nation.
While Coleman previously denied Carjabal-Flores’ motions to dismiss the charges, he later asked the court to reconsider following the Supreme Court’s decision in Bruen, which ruled that New York’s law against carrying a pistol in public violated a constitutional right, as well as several smaller court decisions that considered whether people convicted of nonviolent crimes can be prohibited from having firearms.
Coleman then concluded that Carbajal-Flores’ immigration status was not cause to deny him Second Amendment rights, noting the “plain text” of the Constitution “presumptively protects firearms possession by undocumented persons.”
“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,” Coleman wrote.
“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 decided that since there was no evidence to suggest Carbajal-Flores was a danger to society, he should not be denied his right to own a firearm.
In addition to him not having a criminal record, the court found no evidence to suggest Carbajal-Flores “poses a risk to public safety such that he cannot be trusted to use a weapon responsibly.”
“Thus, this Court finds that, as applied to Carbajal-Flores, Section 922(g)(5) is unconstitutional,” Coleman wrote.
The ruling divided gun rights activists, with some arguing the decision purposefully blurs the line between a citizen and a noncitizen.
Speaking on the ruling on “Hannity,” Senate Intelligence Committee member Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said those on the left have long been trying to “blur the line between citizenship and everything else — people that are here illegally.”
“You almost wonder if it’s not being done to sort of mock both gun laws and also the whole understanding of the value of being a citizen of the United States of America,” he said.
Rubio added that if the line between citizen and noncitizen continues to blur, US citizenship will lose its value.
“There has to be a distinction between citizenship and noncitizenship — between being legally here and not legally here.”
