Torres-Landin

MEMORANDUM ***

Otoniel Torres-Landin (“Torres-Landin”) seeks relief claiming that: (1) the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act of 1997 (“NACARA”) violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fifth Amendment because it impermissibly favors aliens from Nicaragua and Cuba; and (2) NACARA is overbroad because it was intended to benefit aliens who have taken risks in escaping from oppressive governments, yet grants relief to all Nicaraguan or Cuban immigrants regardless of their opposition to the interests of the United States.

“ ‘Line-drawing’ decisions made by Congress ... in the context of immigration and naturalization must be upheld if they are rationally related to a legitimate government purpose,” Ram v. INS, 243 F.3d 510, 517 (9th Cir.2001), and “[c]hallengers have the burden to negate ‘every conceivable basis which might support [a legislative classification] ... whether or not the basis has a foundation in the record.’ ” Hernandez-Mezquita v. Ashcroft, 293 F.3d 1161, 1164 (9th Cir.2002) (quoting Heller v. Doe, 509 U.S. 312, 320-21 , 113 S.Ct. 2637 , 125 L.Ed.2d 257 (1993)). Torres-Landin has not met this burden. A rational basis exists for distinguishing among groups…