On Friday, a team of lawyers from legal and immigrant advocacy groups filed a lawsuit challenging a new Tennessee law that criminalizes providing “harbor” to undocumented immigrants.
The lawsuit argues that immigration enforcement is a power reserved for the federal government, not the states, and that the broad language of the law would only sow confusion and fear about what activities do or do not break the law. Lawyers claim the language about harboring undocumented immigrants is vague enough to cover religious services, emergency weather shelters, education programs and renting out properties.
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Attorneys from the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, the American Immigration Council, and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law are representing a network of Lutheran congregations, a Murfreesboro landlord and an unnamed man whose son-in-law is seeking asylum. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Gov. Bill Lee signed SB 392 into law in May. The law declares that any individual who “intentionally conceals, harbors, or shields from detection” an undocumented immigrant for “financial gain” has committed human smuggling, a class-E felony.
“SB 392 does nothing to improve the lives of Tennesseans or protect public safety, and instead attempts to pit neighbors against each other,” says Spring Miller, TIRRC’s senior director of legal strategy, in a statement. “This law forces religious organizations to choose between following their values or falling in line. It forces family members — spouses, siblings, even parents — to fear that simply living under the same roof as a loved one without legal status could land them behind bars.
Undocumented immigrants face choice between eviction or risk of deportation
“This isn't just unintended consequences of a bad policy. This is using the law to inflict cruelty and control.”
The law is set to go into effect on July 1, but may have already contributed to at least one Nashville family losing their home. As the Scene previously reported, during a spike in illegal evictions of undocumented immigrants in May, one landlord allegedly invoked the law as the reason for kicking out tenants.
Plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to stop the law from going into effect.
