From the link provided in previous post:
"6 SEC. 202. ALIEN SMUGGLING AND RELATED OFFENSES.
7 (a) IN GENERAL.--Section 274 of the Immigration
8 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324) is amended to read
9 as follows:
10 ``ALIEN SMUGGLING AND RELATED OFFENSES
11 ``SEC. 274. (a) CRIMINAL OFFENSES AND PEN-
12 ALTIES.--
13 ``(1) PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES.--Whoever--
14 ``(A) assists, encourages, directs, or in-
15 duces a person to come to or enter the United
16 States, or to attempt to come to or enter the
17 United States, knowing or in reckless disregard
18 of the fact that such person is an alien who
19 lacks lawful authority to come to or enter the
20 United States;
21 ``(B) assists, encourages, directs, or in-
22 duces a person to come to or enter the United
23 States at a place other than a designated port
24 of entry or place other than as designated by
25 the Secretary of Homeland Security, regardless
26 of whether such person has official permission
HR 4437 EH 34
1 or lawful authority to be in the United States,
2 knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact
3 that such person is an alien;
4 ``(C) assists, encourages, directs, or in-
5 duces a person to reside in or remain in the
6 United States, or to attempt to reside in or re-
7 main in the United States, knowing or in reck-
8 less disregard of the fact that such person is an
9 alien who lacks lawful authority to reside in or
10 remain in the United States;
11 ``(D) transports or moves a person in the
12 United States, knowing or in reckless disregard
13 of the fact that such person is an alien who
14 lacks lawful authority to enter or be in the
15 United States, where the transportation or
16 movement will aid or further in any manner the
17 person's illegal entry into or illegal presence in
18 the United States;
19 ``(E) harbors, conceals, or shields from de-
20 tection a person in the United States knowing
21 or in reckless disregard of the fact that such
22 person is an alien who lacks lawful authority to
23 be in the United States;"
Sorry for the formatting issues. Wanted to post verbatim from the text.
What would you change to make this less ambiguous? Please keep in mind that any loopholes could just as easily be used by Moslem Fundamentalist groups to shield a potential terrorist from arrest or deportation.
For starters, how about the Durbin amendment that would help ensure that charitable organizations and local churches would NOT be prosecuted for providing humanitarian assistance to an undocumented immigrant? Durbin's amendment was approved in a bipartisan vote of 10 to 7.
“Charitable organizations, like individuals, should be able to provide humanitarian assistance to immigrants without fearing prosecution,” said Durbin. “A domestic violence shelter should not be forced to decide whether the government would regard a situation as 'an emergency' before they protect a battered mother and her children. A non-profit hospital should not be required to provide medical care without compensation in order to avoid criminal prosecution. We should protect the institutions and individuals who make it their life’s work to help those in need.”
In recent months, churches, charities and community organizations in Illinois and across the country have expressed serious concern over language in immigration legislation being considered by the Senate that could criminalize their assistance to those in need. Current legislative proposals could make an organization guilty of alien smuggling, an aggravated felony, if they helped an individual in need before verifying whether the person is a legal immigrant.
Durbin said that while the original bill included an exception for humanitarian assistance, the exception only protected individuals, not organizations, like churches, hospitals, or schools. Furthermore, the exception only applied to aid provided in emergency situations and aid given without compensation.
Durbin’s amendment expands the humanitarian exception to cover organizations. It makes it clear that humanitarian assistance would include housing, counseling, and victim services. And it strikes the provisions that limit the humanitarian assistance exception to emergency situations and to assistance that is rendered without compensation.
“We need to protect the right of innocent Americans who carry on our nation’s long-standing tradition of welcoming and caring for the needy,” said Durbin. “Today, with the help of my Senate colleagues, we have helped ensure that the tradition of a caring nation continues.”
http://www.senate.gov/~durbin/record.cfm?id=253158
This section could be interpreted to include priests, ministers, and social workers, since they don't actively attempt to discourage illegals from remaining in the United States. It needs to be reworded to exclude those in the clergy and social services who are addressing immediate physical and spiritual needs and indemnify them against any criminal penalties.