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Understanding the Constitution: The Power to Restrict Immigration

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Understanding the Constitution: The Power to Restrict Immigration
View of the U.S.–Mexico border wall in Otay Mesa, Calif., on Aug. 13, 2021. Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images
Rob Natelson
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Commentary

The Constitution doesn’t use the word “immigration.” Those consulting the constitutional debates of 1787–1790 (such as the essays in “The Federalist”) will find no discussion of the subject.

Rob Natelson
Rob Natelson
Author
Robert G. Natelson, a former constitutional law professor who is senior fellow in constitutional jurisprudence at the Independence Institute in Denver, authored “The Original Constitution: What It Actually Said and Meant” (3rd ed., 2015). He is a contributor to The Heritage Foundation’s “Heritage Guide to the Constitution.”
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