A bill making it a crime to harbor or hide individuals without lawful immigration status cleared a Tennessee House subcommittee Wednesday, with opponents criticizing it as a dangerous precedent that could criminalize family members in mixed immigration households, and nonprofits or faith-based organizations performing acts of charity.
The bill (HB322/SB392) by Rep. Chris Todd of Madison County and Sen. Brent Taylor of Memphis, both Republicans, would create a Class A misdemeanor to “harbor or hide” someone unlawfully present in the United States, with a $1,000 penalty and up to a year in jail attached to each individual who was concealed, harbored or shielded.
The proposed legislation would also create a new “human smuggling” felony offense, punishable by up to 6 years in prison and a $3,000 fine for anyone who “encourages or induces” an individual “to remain in this state in violation of federal law.”
If the individual being encouraged or induced to remain in Tennessee is under 13 years old, the crime rises to a Class A felony, punishable by up to 60 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.
Todd said the measure is necessary to create a distinction in the law between the state’s existing human trafficking laws and the act of “human smuggling.”
“Human smuggling involves crossing international borders, involves trafficking larger numbers of victims at a time, controlled by organized crime in the form of terrorist cartels and others,” he said. “A whole and new illicit underground industry was built up in the U.S. over the past four years due to the malfeasant (sic) border policies and rampant illegal immigration.”
But Democratic lawmakers and immigrant advocates critical of the effort warned the measure could easily ensnare family members living in the same household as an immigrant without legal status and the existing services that churches and nonprofit organizations provide to immigrants living in Tennessee, regardless of their legal status.
“This bill sets a very dangerous precedent to not only to families but to churches, to nonprofits and to other organizations that are simply trying to serve people in our communities,” Rep. Jason Powell, a Nashville Democrat, said.
The bill is among more than three dozen immigration-related measures introduced by Tennessee Republicans in this year’s legislative session.
Protestors reciting Pledge of Allegiance over and over until they shut down a House subcommittee about to consider bill requiring immigration checks by Tennessee banks on international wire transfers. Video: John Partipilo.
— Anita Wadhwani (@anitawadhwani.bsky.social) 2025-03-19T19:28:28.934Z
In a statement released after the hearing, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition called the measure “yet another reckless attempt to criminalize immigrant families, but its consequences extend far beyond individuals.”
“By targeting faith-based organizations and nonprofits that serve those in need, Tennessee lawmakers are not only taking us backward but actively destabilizing communities across our state,” read the statement from Lisa Sherman Luna, executive director.
The bill would also empower the Tennessee Attorney General to take action against any organization that has “committed, or is about to commit” human trafficking offenses, including issuing a restraining order, revoking its ability to operate in Tennessee or dissolving it entirely.
Offenses the bill defines as human trafficking include involuntary labor, promoting prostitution and trafficking persons for forced labor or services. An amendment to the bill removed organizations found to have committed “human smuggling” offenses — such as harboring or hiding immigrants without legal status — from the list of offences that could have made houses of worship and nonprofits a target of the attorney general action.
The bill, approved by a 7-2 party-line vote in Tuesday’s House Criminal Justice Subcommittee, is expected to be heard in the House Judiciary Committee next week. It has yet to have a hearing in Tennessee Senate committees.
This article was originally published by the Tennessee Lookout.
