NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A coalition of religious groups, a Tennessee landlord, and a Tennessee resident whose son-in-law is seeking asylum are suing over a new state law that makes providing shelter to an undocumented immigrant a crime.

The Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the two individual plaintiffs, claim the law is unconstitutional and violates: the Fourteenth Amendment "because it is impermissibly vague"; the Supremacy Clause by letting Tennessee regulate immigration, which is a federal power; and the First Amendment by preventing churches from ministering to all people.

“The state legislature passed this law, claiming it's about public safety and it’s an effort to stop human smuggling. That is something that is really important, and it is happening in places, but this law does not actually address this problem at all," Suchi Mathur, the senior litigation attorney at the American Immigration Council, said.

The lawsuit claims the legislation is so vague that it's unclear which immigrants it applies to, potentially making it illegal to provide shelter to those who entered the country illegally but now have legal status.

However, Republican lawmakers argue the bill doesn't go after churches, charitable organizations, or anyone else trying to provide help. Instead, it targets criminals who traffic people for financial gain.

“Keep in mind, Mr. Speaker, most of these victims are children, they are human smuggled, and they are sold into sex slavery, and we ought to be doing everything we can to try to catch these kids before they are sold into sex slavery," said Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis). "If someone is harboring a child who is imminently going to be turned over to someone to be exploited as a prostitute, we ought to do everything we can to make sure those people are brought to justice.”

Despite that, the Tennessee landlord who is part of the suit worries he'll be charged under the law by leasing his rental property to a man who lets other, possibly undocumented people, live in the home with him.

“The way that the Tennessee legislature wrote this law, even providing shelter, aka renting an apartment to someone like that, could subject the landlord to criminal penalties, and that’s a pretty absurd result," Mathur said.

The plaintiffs are seeking an immediate injunction to temporarily block the law from going into effect July 1.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-politics/lawsuit-challenges-tennessees-new-human-smuggling-law/