Justices OK Law Banning Encouragement of Illegal Immigration; Supreme Court Upholds Federal Law Used to Prosecute People Who Encourage Illegal Immigration

Justices OK law banning encouragement of illegal immigration:

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law that makes it illegal to encourage illegal immigration, ruling that it does not stifle First Amendment speech.

The 7-2 decision is a victory for enforcement advocates and preserves a key tool prosecutors use to go after smugglers and other fraudsters who prey on naive migrants.

Immigration activists had argued the law was too broad, and could be used to snare charities working to ease the plight of immigrants, or even family members who allow a relative to remain with them even though the person is here illegally. In legal terms, their claim is what’s known as an “overbreadth” challenge.

The court said those kinds of worries may be real, but said that’s not a reason to strike down the entire law because it also captures some clearly criminal conduct as well.

“Hansen asks us to throw out too much of the good based on a speculative shot at the bad. This is not the stuff of overbreadth,” wrote Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

The case stemmed from the 2017 conviction of Helaman Hansen, who falsely told immigrants without documentation that he could get them on the path to legal status through adult adoption.

He charged up to $10,000 apiece, making more than $1.8 million over the course of the scheme, but failed to deliver since there is no such thing as an adult adoption citizenship program.

Hansen was convicted on fraud charges, and also under the smuggling charge, which applies to someone who “encourages or induces” illegal immigration, particularly for financial gain. —>READ MORE HERE

Supreme Court upholds federal law used to prosecute people who encourage illegal immigration:

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a section of federal law used to prosecute people who encourage illegal immigration, ruling against a California man who offered adult adoptions he falsely claimed would lead to U.S. citizenship.

The court by a 7-2 vote rejected arguments that the law is too broad and violates the Constitution.

The case involves a section of federal immigration law that says a person who “encourages or induces” a non-citizen to come to or remain in the United States illegally can be punished by up to five years in prison. That’s increased to 10 years if the person doing the encouraging is doing so for personal financial gain.

Writing for a majority of her colleagues Justice Amy Coney Barrett said that while a lower court had found the section of the law was unconstitutionally overbroad, “That was an error.” Two of the court’s three liberal justices, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented.

The case in front of the court involved Helaman Hansen, who lived in Elk Grove, California, near Sacramento. The federal government says that from 2012 to 2016, Hansen deceived hundreds of non-citizens into believing that he could guarantee them a path to citizenship through adult adoption. —>READ MORE HERE

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