Supreme Court Weighs Free Speech and the Right to Encourage Illegal Immigration

Federal law imposes criminal penalties on any person who "encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law." On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that asked whether that federal law should be struck down for restricting speech that is protected by the First Amendment.

The case is United States v. Sineneng-Smith. Evelyn Sineneng-Smith, the operator...