Encouraging Illegal Immigration Is Unlawful, Justices Say (1)

A federal law that allows prosecutors to punish people for encouraging illegal immigration is constitutional, the US Supreme Court ruled.

In a 7-2 opinion authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the court on Friday reversed an appellate decision that struck down the provision for being unconstitutionally overbroad and criminalizing speech protected by the First Amendment.

The law prohibits “encouraging” and “inducing” illegal immigration, words Barrett said the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit insisted Congress used in their ordinary sense.

But the court “should have given specialized meaning a fair shake,” she said. “When words have several plausible ...