5th Circuit Upholds Louisiana Bar on Foreign Nurses

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a Louisiana law that limits nurse licenses to permanent residents and citizens. The court held that non-immigrants are not a protected class entitled to strict scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause. A similar law involving pharmacists in New York was ruled unconstitutional by a District Court and is now being appealed to the Second Circuit, potentially putting the two circuits in conflict. The matter could eventually be settled by the US Supreme Court.