The state of Palomar’s legislature enacted a law that stated in relevant part, “No person who is not a citizen of the United States may be hired for Category C public employment positions by the state of Palomar or by any county, municipality, or other government unit within the boundaries of the state.” One of the positions specified as Category C was civil engineer. At the time the statute was signed into law, Lourdes Delgado, a citizen of the Philippines, had been legally residing in Palomar for five years. She had been trained as an engineer for 10 years in the Philippines before moving to Palomar. For the last three years, Lourdes has been taking additional classes at Palomar State University to stay abreast of the latest techniques and developments in her field. Lourdes read that the Palomar Department of Transportation needed a new drafting engineer. She applied for the position and had the required qualifications. However, Nekro, the assistant director of the Department, turned down her application, telling Lourdes, “I’d really like to hire you but I can’t.” The sole reason Nekro gave was the recently enacted statute. Lourdes really wanted the job and filed suit in federal court, claiming that the statute violates her right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.

If Lourdes prevails, it will most likely be because: