http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rightsandfreedoms/a/illegalrights.htm
It's All About Equal Protection
When the Supreme Court decides cases dealing with
First Amendment rights, it typically draws guidance from the 14th Amendment's principal of "equal protection under the law." In essence, the "
equal protection" clause extends
First Amendment protection to anyone and everyone covered by the
5th and 14th Amendments. Through its consistent rulings that the 5th and 14th Amendments apply equally to illegal aliens, they also enjoy First Amendment rights.
In rejecting the argument that the "equal" protections of the 14th Amendment are limited to U.S. citizens, the Supreme Court has referred to the language used by the
Congressional Committee that drafted the amendment.
"The last two clauses of the first section of the amendment disable a State from depriving not merely a citizen of the United States, but any person, whoever he may be, of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or from denying to him the equal protection of the laws of the State. This abolishes all class legislation in the States and does away with the injustice of subjecting one caste of persons to a code not applicable to another. . . . It [the 14th Amendment] will, if adopted by the States, forever disable every one of them from passing laws trenching upon those fundamental rights and privileges which pertain to citizens of the United States, and to all persons who may happen to be within their jurisdiction."
While illegal immigrants do not enjoy all of the rights granted to citizens by the Constitution, specifically the rights to vote or possess firearms, these rights can also be denied to U.S. citizens convicted of felonies. In final analysis, the courts have ruled that, while they are within the borders of the United States,
illegal immigrants are granted the same fundamental, undeniable constitutional rights granted to all Americans.