Xiang Hui Ye,
588 F.3d 411, 415-416 (7th Cir. 2009). What Actions Constitute Harboring? Although Congress passed legislation to prohibit and punish
the ``harboring'' of undocumented individuals, it never
defined the term. The work of defining what constitutes
``harboring'' has been left to the courts. As shown below,
the federal courts have not settled on one uniform
definition, but rather many of the circuit courts have
adopted their own definition of ``harboring.''
Harboring is conduct that substantially facilitates an
immigrant's remaining in the U.S. illegally and that prevents
the authorities from detecting the individual's unlawful
presence (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit)
Harboring includes affirmative conduct such as providing
shelter, transportation, direction about how to obtain false
documentation, or warnings about impending investigations
that facilitates a person's continuing illegal presence in
the United States. (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third
Circuit)
Harboring is conduct tending to substantially facilitate an
immigrant's remaining in the U.S. illegally (U.S. Courts of
Appeals for the Fifth Circuit)
Harboring is conduct that clandestinely shelters, succors,
and protects improperly admitted immigrants. (U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Sixth Circuit)
Harboring is conduct that provides or offers a known
undocumented individual a secure haven, a refuge, a place to
stay in which authorities are unlikely to be seeking him.
(U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit)
Harboring is conduct that affords shelter to undocumented
individuals. (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit)
Explanation of Harboring Through Case Law
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
In the influential case, United States v. Lopez, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit went through the
legislative history of the harboring provision and stated
that the term harbor ``was intended to encompass conduct
tending substantially to facilitate an alien's `remaining in
the United States illegally,' provided that the person
charged has knowledge of the immigrant's unlawful status.''
521 F.2d 437, 441 (2d Cir 1975), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 995
(1975). In this case, Mr. Lopez owned at least six homes in Nassau
County, New York, where he operated safe havens for
undocumented individuals. Mr. Lopez knew that the people
staying in his homes were undocumented. Each person paid Mr. Lopez $15 per week to live in his houses.
Keywords matched
immigrants undocumented immigrant