Note:
Alison A. Clarke, State Legislation Denying Subsistence Benefits to Undocumented Aliens: An Equal Protection Approach, 61 Texas L. Rev. 859 (1983).
 

Abstract:
Although undocumented persons enter the country illegally, they enjoy judicial protection against encroachment on their basic human freedoms. Specifically, an undocumented person’s right to an education, a safe working environment, a lawful deportation, and Fifth Amendment due process rights are constitutionally protected under principles of equal protection. The author argues that state laws that deny undocumented aliens access to subsistence benefits should also be subject to a significant level of scrutiny in equal protection analysis. Therefore, the rational basis test is insufficient to protect the rights of undocumented persons against state laws that strip them of their human dignity.