Tennessee ‘human smuggling’ bill heads to governor’s desk

A February event in Nashville’s Centennial Park drew about 400 immigrants to protest Tennessee anti-immigrant bills. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

Legislation making it a crime to harbor, hide or conceal individuals without lawful immigration status is headed to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk.

The bill by (HB322/SB392) by Rep. Chris Todd of Madison County and Sen. Brent Taylor of Memphis, both Republicans, creates the new state crime of “human smuggling” — defined as transporting, concealing, harboring or shielding from detection anyone living in the country illegally. 

Approved 73-22 Tuesday by Republicans in the House, the bill underwent significant revisions before its passage after pushback from faith-based and advocacy groups. 

The legislation originally criminalized the transportation, harboring or hiding of 10 or more immigrants without legal status by churches, charitable organizations as well as businesses and employers.

The version headed to the governor’s desk restricts the offense to harboring, transporting or hiding individuals without legal immigration status “for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain.” It also includes added exceptions for healthcare facilities treating patients without legal immigration status and licensed Tennessee attorneys providing legal advice to immigrant clients.

Tennessee bill to criminalize ‘harboring or hiding” immigrants without legal status advances

The language nevertheless raised concern among some Democrats on Tuesday for continuing to leave faith-based and nonprofit organizations — and the individuals who work for them — vulnerable to criminal prosecution for acts of charity. Under the bill, human smuggling is a Class A felony carrying a prison sentence of 15-60 years and a fine of up to $50,000.

“You and your church will be held liable under this bill. It’s that simple. That’s it. It’s that clear,” Rep. John Ray Clemmons, a Nashville Democrat, said. “You are committing a crime of human smuggling if you provide shelter to someone.”

Earlier this month, Democrats in the Tennessee Senate noted the bill would also target immigrant-dependent industries, including farms and meat packing plants, that provide transportation or housing for workers.

Taylor, the bill’s Senate sponsor, noted employers could not be prosecuted for housing or transporting workers who provided fraudulent documents. 

Employers, however, will be held liable for the human smuggling offense for workers they know to be unlawfully present in the United States, he said. The state crime would be in addition to federal violations for employing unauthorized workers.

Bill to hold charities liable for providing housing to certain immigrants heads to governor’s desk

“If an employer is hiring illegal aliens…if they are violating the law, yes, they would be guilty of this,” Taylor said. 

Sen. Jeff Yarbro, a Nashville Democrat, noted the legislation relies on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to determine whether an immigrant is residing in the country illegally — a determination the executive branch agency is not, by law, authorized to make, he said. 

“We’re not just saying someone has to be here illegally. That would be one thing,” Yarbro said during the April 16 Senate floor debate. “We’re saying they have to be here illegally as determined by this group that has no right to make that arbitration.”

Todd, the Republican representative sponsoring the bill, said Tuesday that one goal of the bill is to provide district attorneys and local law enforcement a tool to “catch folks before they get into a trafficking situation by catching the perpetrators when they’re actually in the act of snuggling.”  

The bill also gives the Tennessee attorney general the authority to dissolve any business or nonprofit that has “committed, or is about to commit a human trafficking offense or aggravated human trafficking.”