No State Power: Critiquing the Eighth Circuit’s Preemption Analysis

This note contends that federal law should preempt state and local laws that regulate where undocumented immigrants may reside within the United States. In Keller v. City of Fremont, the Eight Circuit recently upheld a local ordinance prohibiting undocumented immigrants from renting housing within the boundaries of the city of Fremont. Though the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari to review the decision, the Eighth Circuit’s analysis of preemption doctrine conflicts with the Third, Fifth, and Eleventh Circuits’ interpretation of preemption doctrine as it applies to housing restrictions on immigrants. This note argues that the Eighth Circuit’s decision should be revised to comport with the analysis adopted by the majority of circuit courts.