The Constitution in Your Community 

As you learned in one of the “ Your Constitutional Values,” immigration is one of the most contentious and hotly debated issues in contemporary U. S. politics. The civil rights of immigrants, preservation of meaningful citizenship standards, national and personal identity, and federalism questions all converge to make “ illegal” or “ undocumented” immigrant status a third rail in politics. Ima, Cit, and Zen is a law firm that specializes in immigration and related issues. The decision has been made to open a new office in your state and you are one of the first employees hired. You have been directed to prepare a memorandum ( 1– 3 pages) outlining your state’s laws on immigration, if any. Does your state or local government have any law, policy, or practice that is specifically aimed at illegal immigrants? If so, what is that law, policy, or practice? Does it raise federal constitutional issues? If so, describe the law, policy, or practice as well as the constitutional issue( s). If you could not identify a law, policy, or practice in your locality, look to Arizona or another state to complete this exercise.

Going Federal

Assume that you work for a public interest group that has been asked to examine the constitutionality of the recent financial “ bailout” program sponsored by the federal government. Recall that in 2008, Congress passed the Emergency Economic Stabili-zation Act of 2008, which authorized the President to make loans and provide other financial help to financial institutions in jeopardy of failing. One program known as “TARP,” an acronym for “ Troubled Assets Relief Program,” also allowed the president to provide financial relief to financial institutions and other groups. The interest group that has retained your firm would like to know whether these congressional “bailout” measures constitute an unconstitutional delegation of authority by Congress to the president. See www. nytimes. com/ 2009/ 01/ 16/ www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/ us/ politics/ 16challenge. html. www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/us/politics/16challenge.html. Prepare a memorandum (1– 3 pages) discussing this question.

Moot Court 

In 2010, the Dodd- Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act became law. Some analysts have argued that the new law constitutes a violation of the separation of powers doctrine. See www. fed- soc. org/ doclib/ 20101209_ www.fed-soc.org/doclib/20101209_ BoydenShuDoddFrankWP. pdf . Divide into groups of two and prepare to argue the constitutionality, specifically whether the law violates the separation of powers.