The Biden administration pleaded with the Supreme Court on Monday to preserve a section of the law that punishes people who entice illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S., brushing aside First Amendment worries.
Justices seemed conflicted, suggesting that the language of the law is broad enough that it might be seen to snare churches, charities and even family members, who might have to be careful about what they say to an illegal immigrant.“The statute’s been on the books for a long time and there’s an absence of prosecutions. There’s also an absence of chilling effects,” said Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
That was a reference to the fact that while crossing the border without permission is a crime, remaining in the country illegally is only a civil offense, punishable by deportation. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. repeatedly came back to the fact that there were no prosecutions of those kinds of cases in the record.
He wondered if the court shouldn’t wait for another case involving one of the situations of a charity or family member getting snared.
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