As immigration crackdowns and deportations ramp up under President Trump’s second term, many Americans are asking: Is it illegal to help an undocumented immigrant?
The short answer: It depends — and the law is far from clear.
The main federal statute that governs this issue, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA), prohibits “harboring” undocumented immigrants. But what exactly counts as harboring? There’s no nationwide legal consensus.
The INA broadly defines harboring as doing anything that “substantially facilitates” an undocumented person’s ability to remain in the U.S. But that could mean anything from letting someone sleep on your couch to helping them obtain fake documents — and different courts interpret it very differently.
“Our immigration laws are vague and inconsistently enforced. That’s just reality,” said Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute. “What counts as harboring varies by jurisdiction, and prosecutions often depend on political priorities and available resources.”
During Trump’s first term, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions pushed a zero-tolerance approach to harboring. Under his leadership, prosecutions surged from under 3,500 in 2015 to nearly 5,700 by 2019.
Now, with ICE removals lagging behind even the Biden administration’s pace — 661 daily removals in early 2025 compared to Biden’s 742 daily average in 2024 — critics say the administration may lean more on fear than mass deportations to achieve its goals.
“They want people to self-deport — or at least be too afraid to help,” said Chishti. “The message is: If you help your neighbor, your partner, your employee, you could become a target.”
What Legally Counts as Harboring?
Different courts draw different lines.
- The Third Circuit takes a broad view: harboring includes providing shelter, transport, fake documents, or warnings about ICE.
- The Sixth and Ninth Circuits define it more narrowly: only shielding someone from detection or offering physical shelter.
In general:
- Driving someone across the border or helping them hide from ICE could lead to charges.
- Letting a partner or friend stay with you or driving them within the country usually doesn’t — unless you actively prevent authorities from finding them.
- Hiring someone unknowingly is not illegal. But knowingly helping them lie on forms, such as an I-9 for employment, is considered harboring.
“It often comes down to intent and knowledge,” said Chishti. “But it also depends on whether a local jurisdiction has the resources or political will to prosecute.”
Chilling Effect of Enforcement
This legal gray area has already created a chilling effect.
In 2018, a humanitarian volunteer in Arizona was charged with harboring after giving food and shelter to two migrants. He was later acquitted after invoking religious freedom protections.
In 2019, a Texas city attorney was detained after calling for help for three dehydrated migrant children.
And in April 2025, a Wisconsin judge was arrested for allegedly interfering with ICE agents outside her courtroom.
“We’re seeing growing pressure on institutions — schools, hospitals, courts — to avoid knowing too much,” Chishti said. “That erodes trust and social cohesion.”
Some fear this could lead to a culture where people turn away from those in need — not because they don’t care, but because helping might carry legal risk.
“If being a good Samaritan becomes a crime,” Chishti warned, “we all lose something much bigger than a court case.”
