The Supreme Court upheld a law that makes it a crime to “encourage or induce” illegal immigration, rejecting the argument that it violates the First Amendment.
The case, United States v. Hansen, stems from Helaman Hansen’s 2017 conviction for running a program advertising a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants through “adult adoption,” which earned him more $1.8 million between 2012 and 2016. Though it affirmed Hansen’s convictions on mail and wire fraud charges, the Ninth Circuit held that the law behind his two counts of encouraging or inducing non-citizens to reside in the United States for financial gain was “overbroad and unconstitutional,” covering “a substantial amount of speech protected by the First Amendment.”
Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in the majority opinion, which was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, that the Ninth Circuit was in “error” when it held that the law unconstitutionally criminalizes immigration advocacy and protected speech.
“Properly interpreted, this provision forbids only the intentional solicitation or facilitation of certain unlawful acts,” Barrett wrote. “It does not ‘prohibi[t] a substantial amount of protected speech’—let alone enough to justify throwing out the law’s ‘plainly legitimate sweep.’”
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