The current administration is very serious about enforcing our immigration laws, and unlike the previous administration, it has not placed any restrictions on which provisions can be enforced. As border czar Tom Homan has said, “We’re enforcing the laws that Congress enacted and a president signed.”
Most of the provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act pertain to civil offenses, such as deportability and eligibility for relief from deportation. But the law also includes criminal provisions — including ones that make giving prohibited assistance to undocumented immigrants a felony.
Individuals who help undocumented immigrants need to know that they may be committing a serious criminal offense that can result in severe consequences, including substantial fines and lengthy prison sentences. In extreme cases, offenders may face life imprisonment, or even the death penalty.
This does not mean that you can’t help someone who might be an undocumented immigrant without subjecting yourself to prosecution. The main criminal provisions that pertain to assisting undocumented migrants can be found in 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A), which includes the following offenses:
Smuggling: Bringing or attempting to bring a person into the United States at any place other than a port of entry knowing that he/she is an alien is a criminal offense.
For instance, in January 2025, Isai Orona was sentenced to four and a half years in federal prison for smuggling more than 2,500 undocumented immigrants into the United States. He had a network of drivers and 12 different cars for transporting the illegal crossers. The judge also ordered him to pay a $250,000 fine.
Transporting: It is a criminal offense to provide transportation within the United States for an alien knowing “or in reckless disregard of the fact that [the] alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law.”
The type of conduct this provision was meant to address is that of a driver who is paid to pick up undocumented immigrants right after they’ve made an illegal crossing, taking them into the interior of the country. It should not apply to someone who gives a ride to a friend or neighbor without knowing he/she is an undocumented immigrant.
Harboring: It is a criminal offense to conceal, harbor or shield an alien from detection “knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that [the] alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law.”
To warrant a conviction, the defendant’s actions must have facilitated the undocumented immigrant’s ability to remain here unlawfully, but that requirement can be interpreted differently by different people.
Continue reading at The Hill