## Facts

- Armando Portillo-Munoz, a Mexican citizen, unlawfully entered the United States, left after several months, and illegally reentered in 2009.
- He lived and worked in Texas as a ranch hand (and previously at a dairy farm).
- Law enforcement responded to a report at a rodeo arena involving a person with a firearm; officers encountered Portillo-Munoz and found a .22-caliber handgun in the center console of his vehicle.
- Portillo-Munoz stated the firearm was used to kill coyotes and protect ranch chickens.
- Officers also found a folded dollar bill containing white powder; he was arrested for unlawfully carrying a weapon and controlled-substance possession.
- During booking, Portillo-Munoz admitted he was unlawfully present in the United States and had no prior criminal history.
- He was indicted under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5) for possessing a firearm while being an alien illegally and unlawfully present in the United States.

## Issues

1. Whether an undocumented alien is within “the people” protected by the Second Amendment such that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5) is unconstitutional as applied.
2. Whether applying § 922(g)(5) to an undocumented alien with established ties to the United States violates the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit affirmed the conviction.
- The court held that undocumented aliens are not among “the people” protected by the Second Amendment; therefore, Portillo-Munoz had no Second Amendment right to possess a firearm.
- Because the Second Amendment did not apply to Portillo-Munoz, the court did not proceed to a means-end scrutiny analysis.
- The court rejected the Fifth Amendment due process challenge, concluding Congress could rationally prohibit firearm possession by unlawfully present aliens.
- Portillo-Munoz’s conditional guilty plea and sentence (10 months’ imprisonment and three years’ supervised release) were left undisturbed.

## Legal Principles

- For Second Amendment purposes, “the people” refers to members of the national political community, and the category does not include undocumented aliens whose presence is unlawful.
- When a claimant is outside the Second Amendment’s protected class, § 922(g)(5) does not implicate a protected right as applied, and heightened scrutiny analysis is unnecessary.
- A status-based firearm prohibition applicable to unlawfully present aliens satisfies Fifth Amendment due process if it is rationally related to legitimate governmental interests, including public safety and immigration enforcement.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit held that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5) is constitutional as applied to an undocumented alien because such individuals are not within “the people” protected by the Second Amendment, and the statute also survives a Fifth Amendment due process challenge under rational-basis review.


United States v. Portillo-Munoz, 643 F.3d 437 (5th Cir. 2011)