Constitutional Law and Immigration Law

December 4th, 2014

In the run-up to NFIB v. Sebelius, health care lawyers suddenly had to become experts in constitutional law, and constitutional lawyers had to become experts in health care law. My sense (from personal experience) is that with rare exception, neither group fully succeeded. There is a similar dynamic now with the immigration executive action. Immigration lawyers are being asked to opine on the scope of the President’s duty to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, and constitutional lawyers are being asked to weigh in on the complicated immigration code. At this point, there is still quite a gap between the two.