Southeastern Synod v. Finney

In partnership with the American Immigration Council (AIC) and the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), ICAP is challenging the constitutionality of a newly enacted Tennessee law, which criminalizes the harboring of undocumented immigrants, regardless of intent to conceal, if there is a some financial benefit to the person. This state law extends far beyond the federal law on harboring by defining "harbor" as "to provide shelter," which has the potential to make it a crime for a landlord to rent an apartment to immigrants or for a church to host immigrants in its building for worship, gatherings, or other services if the church accepts donations for that work.

We represent the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which is composed of 160 congregations across various states in the South, as well as a local landlord and a Tennessee parent. We argue that the bill is unconstitutional because immigration regulation is a responsibility of the federal government, not the state, and the vague terms of the law make it impossible for an ordinary person to know what conduct is criminal. We have sued every district attorney general in Tennessee and are seeking an immediate injunction from the court to prevent the law from going into effect and a permanent injunction prohibiting enforcement of the law.