Can a legal immigrant get in trouble if his family comes over illegally and gets caught?

Question

This is purely a hypothetical. If Person A immigrates legally to America and brings over his family illegally, what consequences does Person A face if caught? I know that the family would get deported; are there any other consequences?

Answer 1

Hypothetically speaking, of course they would get in trouble. Hypothetically only, at this point. Soon, we will be speaking literally about this.

Answer 2

Are you saying if the legal immigrant illegally migrates his family over? Then yes, he defintaly would! Assuming he gets caught crossing the border, or his family is asked for verification somewhere during a random check stop, jail time and possible revoking of citizenship! But it all ends in the judges hands, so it his call specifically.
Good luck!

Answer 3

well if Person a is legal but his/her family is not then person a could apply for family even after they are here. INS charges much bigger fines to those who are here illegally. Also petrson a could petition court if family is caught.

Answer 4

Many people here are just trying to scare you.

You cannot be held legally responsible for someone else's actions just because they are your family members. If you actually assist them in getting across the border, then that is a federal crime and you will be prosecuted for it. Otherwise, if they come over on their own and stay with you and you support them, you aren't doing anything illegal.

And no, they cannot revoke your citizenship for any reason whatsoever.

Answer 5

The Law Against Hiring or Harboring Illegal Aliens

The following is an overview of federal law on hiring and harboring illegal aliens. It is not a substitute for professional legal counsel in specific situations.

Summary
A person (including a group of persons, business, organization or local government) commits a federal felony when he:

assists an alien whom he should reasonably know is illegally in the U.S. or who lacks employment authorization, by transporting, sheltering, or assisting him to obtain employment,
encourages that alien to remain in the U.S., by referring him to an employer, by acting as employer or agent for an employer in any way, or
knowingly assists illegal aliens due to personal convictions.
Penalties upon conviction include criminal fines, imprisonment, and forfeiture of vehicles and real property used to commit the crime.
The penalty for felony harboring is a fine and imprisonment for up to five years. The penalty for felony alien smuggling is a fine and up to ten years imprisonment. Where the crime causes serious bodily injury or places the life of any person in jeopardy, the penalty is a fine and up to 20 years imprisonment. If the criminal smuggling or harboring results in the death “of any person,” the penalty can include life imprisonment. Convictions for aiding, abetting, or conspiracy to commit alien smuggling or harboring, carry the same penalties. 22 Courts can impose consecutive prison sentences for each alien smuggled or harbored.23 A court may order a convicted smuggler to pay restitution if the alien smuggled qualifies as a “victim” under the Victim and Witness Protection Act.24

Conspiracy to commit the crimes of sheltering, harboring, or employing illegal aliens is a separate federal offense punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 or five years imprisonment.25

Designated INS officers and employees, and all other officers whose duty it is to enforce criminal laws, may make an arrest for violation of smuggling or harboring illegal aliens.27

State and local law enforcement officials have the general power to investigate and arrest violators of federal immigration statutes without prior INS knowledge or approval, as long as they are authorized to do so by state law. There is “no extant federal limitation” on this authority. The 1996 immigration control legislation passed by Congress was intended to encourage states and local agencies to participate in the process of enforcing federal immigration laws.28

Answer 6

In the great state of Oklahoma you would face prosecution

Answer 7

Yes

Answer 8

The person that bought them over would probably be sent to jail, because you never know "what" the illegal immegrant family can get. [ex.tobacco, cigarettes, and other toxic liquids].

Answer 9

Harboring a fugitive is a crime.