Tennessee has enacted a groundbreaking law that makes harboring illegal immigrants a punishable crime.
Signed into effect by Governor Bill Lee in May 2025, Senate Bill 392, which took effect July 1, sends a clear message: Tennessee will not be a safe haven for those who flout federal immigration laws.
The new law targets landlords, business owners, and “sanctuary sympathizers” who knowingly harbor illegal aliens in exchange for rent or services — a Class E felony punishable by up to six years in prison and fines up to $3,000.
For cases involving children under 13, the penalty escalates to a Class A felony, with potential sentences of up to 60 years.
A coalition including the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, TIRRC, ICAP, and the American Immigration Council has sued in federal court to block the law, citing First Amendment and Supremacy Clause violations.
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A coalition led by the Tennessee-based Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America filed the lawsuit on June 20, joined by a Nashville landlord and a Mexican immigrant in the state. They alleged that the law is unconstitutionally vague, oversteps federal authority to regulate immigration, and could place churches, landlords, and immigrant communities in the state’s crosshairs.
“This law is not just harmful, it’s unconstitutional,” Elizabeth Cruikshank, senior counsel for the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law, which is a party to the lawsuit, said in a news release. “Immigration enforcement is a responsibility of the federal government, not something that states can pick up and weaponize however they choose.”
The complaint also stated that the law infringes on the First Amendment freedom of the church’s members to express their faith by providing services to migrants.
“These kinds of state laws have the possibility to be really destabilizing to communities because they create an atmosphere of fear for people about the status of immigrants within their communities,” Bill Powell, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told the Post.
Tennessee state Sen. Brent Taylor and Rep. Chris Todd, both Republicans who sponsored the bill — no Democrats voted for it — said it was aimed at stopping human trafficking, not prosecuting landlords or religious groups.
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