Encouraging Illegal Immigration Could Put Grandmas in Jail

Grandparents, preachers, and human rights activists face prison time if the U.S. Supreme Court condones a law punishing those who encourage illegal immigration, advocacy groups warn ahead of an upcoming argument in Washington.

The Trump Administration, challenging an appellate ruling that struck down the measure, contends that those concerns are overblown—that the government is going after grifters, not grandmas.

The justices will try to reconcile these competing narratives at oral arguments Feb. 25, where they’ll confront a trifecta of perennially potent topics: crime and punishment, free speech, and the definitive Trump-era issue of immigration.

The immigration issue in particular has ...