Liberty at the Cost of Constitutional Protections:

Undocumented Immigrants and Fourth Amendment Rights

Abstract

The Supreme Court has issued many opinions indirectly addressing the Fourth amendment rights of undocumented immigrants. However, none of these opinions answer the questions that matter most: do undocumented immigrants have Fourth Amendment protections and if so, what are they. These questions have increasingly become more important because advances in technology facilitate intrusive searches and seizures by law enforcement officers. This article will specifically focus on the Department of Homeland Security and its use of GPS ankle bracelets to monitor undocumented immigrants. This article compares existing Supreme Court opinions concerning undocumented immigrants and Fourth Amendment rights in the technological age. It is now more important than ever to find some legal clarity if we ever plan to answer how far is too far.