Speech #970038608

Shevin.11 Moreover. the Court has used deference to congressional policy quite recently in an equal protection case. In Fialla v. Bell M1 in 1977. the Court relied very heavily on Congress special powers over Immigration and naturalization. despite previous applications of the middletier test in cases involving aliens. The analogy to the affirmative powers of Congress is certainly apt. In Fiallo. the Court upheld a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act which grants special status to aliens who are parents of children of U.S. citizens. the law withholds the preference from the natural father of an illegitimate child while giving it to the mother." With Justice Powell writing for the Court. the Justices rested on the traditional extreme deference to congressional decisions about the entry of aliens.= They made no real attempt to probe the rationality of the distinction Congress drew in that instance. even though Fiallo is a postCraig case. The most relevant support for deference can be found in Schlesinger v. Ballard.20 The case is significant in several respects.