There are many faces to immigration laws in the United States. In fact, laws on illegal and undocumented persons have different perspectives that may not be acceptable.
Recently, the United States Supreme Court ruled on whether a law that criminalizes providing aid to illegal immigrants should remain constitutional. During the hearing, many questions put the lives of illegal immigrants into perspective. The case also opens up a deep inquiry into other factors surrounding illegal immigrants and the laws that guide them.
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What Is the 1986 Illegal Immigration Law?
There was a law enacted in 1986 that criminalized these acts. The law views acts of aiding and abetting illegal immigrants as criminal. The law also criminalizes simply encouraging illegal immigrants to continue staying in the United States via words.
This law raises the question of whether criminalizing the encouragement of illegal immigrants to stay in the country impedes free speech.
There were different questions during the hearing. What is the place of empathy in illegal immigration laws? What should the law do in the case of those who provide aid to illegal immigrants? Should that fall under criminal acts? Where is the place of the First Amendment in the face of the 1986 law?
Should the law see an NGO that provides aid for illegal immigrants as an act of felony? Should the law see people who house illegal immigrants as criminals?
Should the law criminalize a person who tells an illegal immigrant to continue staying in a place or provide them with information on where they can get shelter? Is that not an impediment to the person’s free speech?
How Can a Person Violate the 1986 Law?
In the face of the 1986 laws, there are different ways to encourage an illegal immigrant to stay in the United States. Suppose an NGO provides support for illegal immigrants. In that case, a landlord provides shelter for an illegal immigrant and welcomes them to stay for as long as they need, then they are all encouraging the illegal immigrant to stay.
Furthermore, when a person provides tips on immigration laws and evading immigration key issues, provides tips on social welfare, or even encourages illegal immigrants via word of mouth, no matter how little, they are equally encouraging the illegal immigrant to stay in the United States.
What Is the Recent Legal Debate on the 1986 Law?
Many factors tie down to encouraging illegal immigrants in the United States. For some, it is an act of empathy. For others, it is an act of helping a human being. Also, some consider it an affront to the First Amendment and an impediment to free speech.
Thus, the Supreme Court case tilts toward answering whether the law should consider these acts criminal and, even if it does, to what extent an act or word should count as criminal.
“Many have criticized the 1986 law for being poorly defined and violating the First Amendment, as it controversially categorizes and penalizes innocuous speech,” says immigration law attorney Zaira Solano of Solano Law Firm LLC.
Recently, there has been a hot conversation about the 1986 laws and what they stand for. One of the reasons for its resurgence in the legal discussions is due to a recent fraud case that involved helping illegal immigrants turn citizens of the United States into adult adoptees.
In the discussions of the 1986 laws, some admitted that the law criminalizes not just actions but words that encourage an illegal immigrant to remain in the United States.
Furthermore, merely advising illegal immigrants, giving them tips on how to find shelter, avoid natural disasters, or just encouraging them to stay is a criminal offense under the law. The 1986 law criminalizes any act or words that encourage an illegal immigrant.
But there are other faces to this law. While many might consider criminalizing a common act or words as harsh, others consider some acts as truly encouraging illegal immigrants. These acts include encouraging illegal immigrants over and over again, providing jobs for illegal immigrants, and providing immigration information to illegal immigrants.
What Is the Recent Development?
The new Supreme Court case that brought back the debate on the 1986 law sets its sights on defining the terms of “encouraging” illegal immigrants to stay in the United States and the extent to which a person can encourage them before the law can become applicable.
This way, the law may avoid impeding citizens’ free speech rights.
