Illegal Immigration Encouragement Law Struck Down on Appeal

A law penalizing any individual who encourages or induces illegal immigration is unconstitutionally overbroad, because it covers a substantial amount of speech protected by the First Amendment, the Ninth Circuit said Thursday.

Helaman Hansen operated an organization called Americans Helping America Chamber of Commerce, which ran a program that purported to help undocumented immigrants become U.S. citizens through adult adoption. Hansen falsely told victims that many immigrants had become U.S. citizens through the program, although it isn’t possible to obtain citizenship through adult adoption.

Hansen was convicted on a number of counts, including twice encouraging or inducing victims to overstay ...