Appeals court upholds Texas law against ‘harboring’ immigrants

AUSTIN, Texas — A federal appeals court threw out a suit against Texas Thursday, ruling that the state can continue enforcing a provision of a state law that added criminal penalties for “harboring” immigrants who were in the country illegally.

“Governor Abbott was proud to sign House Bill 11 into law to crack down on human smuggling and increase penalties for perpetrators of these horrific crimes,” said John Wittman, a spokesman for Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. “He applauds today’s decision by the 5th Circuit to dismiss this ill-considered challenge.”

Attorney General Ken Paxton praised the ruling in a written statement, saying it will “allow the state to fight the smuggling of humans and illegal contraband by transnational gangs and perpetrators of organized crime, not just on the border, but throughout Texas.”

When the Legislature passed the provision as part of a high-profile border security bill in 2015, lawmakers tried to target the criminal business of human smuggling.

But after the law was passed, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund sued the state last January, on behalf of two landlords who don’t ask their tenants to provide their immigration status before renting to them, and an aid group that provides shelter and legal services to unauthorized immigrants. The plaintiffs feared being prosecuted under the provision.

In April, U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra of San Antonio blocked the state from enforcing the provision, saying the law was overly broad in scope and potential impact. Ezra said the plaintiffs would probably succeed in arguing that the law pre-empted federal law and that they could face “irreparable harm” if the action remained in effect.

At that hearing, Texas public safety officials said the state “would not investigate, file criminal charges, or otherwise engage in enforcement activity” against plaintiffs for “harboring” immigrants who were in the country illegally. They argued that the provision was clear in targeting only human smugglers.

The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals cited that testimony in reversing the district court ruling Thursday, saying the plaintiffs could not “demonstrate a credible threat of prosecution.” The court said there was no “reasonable interpretation” by which merely housing or providing services to unauthorized immigrants would constitute harboring those people from protection.

Lawyers from the legal defense fund representing the plaintiffs said they considered the court’s ruling “a positive result” because it clarified that landlords and homeless shelter workers can’t be prosecuted under the state’s law.

In a written statement, Nina Perales, the lead counsel on the case, said “the 5th Circuit did (Attorney General) Ken Paxton’s job for him” in issuing an interpretation that would protect the plaintiffs from prosecution.

“The court ruled that our clients are not harboring the undocumented immigrants that they serve,” Perales said. “The 5th Circuit provided us with a narrow definition of harboring that will prevent Texas law enforcement officers from arresting humanitarian workers and landlords for simply providing shelter and conducting business with undocumented immigrants.

“In these days of increased concern that state and local police will take up the duties of federal immigration agents, today’s ruling restricts Texas to only the most limited enforcement of the harboring statute,” Perales said.