(The Center Square) – A lawsuit filed by religious organizations and two individuals could stop a new Tennessee law that would make harboring foreigners in the country a crime.
The plaintiffs are the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a Murfreesboro landlord, and a “John Doe” living with a son-in-law who is seeking asylum, according to the federal court filing.
The bill creates a class A misdemeanor charge for people who harbor individuals they “know or who should have known” are illegally in the country.
“Doe fears that he could be prosecuted under the ‘human smuggling’ law for providing shelter to his daughter and son-in-law because they are paying rent and because Doe knows his son-in-law’s immigration status. He worries about the safety and security of his family,” the lawsuit states.
They are challenging the constitutionality of the law in a class action suit.
“Hundreds if not thousands of Tennesseans will be subject to arrest and prosecution under Section 5 for providing shelter to noncitizens,” the lawsuit said.
The bill will go into effect on July 1.
“Immigration enforcement is a responsibility of the federal government, not something that states can pick up and weaponize however they choose,” said Elizabeth Cruikshank, senior counsel for the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law, one of the firms participating in the case. “When individual states start creating their own immigration rules and penalties, it creates confusion, fear, and chaos, not just for immigrants, but for families, employers, and communities across the state.”
A hearing date is not listed in the court records.
Immigration was a hot topic during the General Assembly session. Gov. Bill Lee proposed and signed a bill that creates a new division targeting illegal immigration that would also penalize elected officials who support sanctuary cities. A bill that would ban children in the country illegally from attending the state’s K-12 schools did not pass.
The case is in Magistrate Barbara D. Holmes’s courtroom. Holmes ruled Sunday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with human smuggling, must get a detention hearing. It is scheduled for Wednesday.
