8 U.S.C. § 1328
Section 1328 · Importation of alien for immoral purpose
This is § 278 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (McCarran-Walter)
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 47 court decisions — leading case United States v. Kincade (2004)
Most recently applied in James Bullard Minter v. The State of Wyoming (April 2023)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The importation into the United States of any alien for the purpose of prostitution, or for any other immoral purpose, is forbidden. Whoever shall, directly or indirectly, import, or attempt to import into the United States any alien for the purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral purpose, or shall hold or attempt to hold any alien for any such purpose in pursuance of such illegal importation, or shall keep, maintain, control, support, employ, or harbor in any house or other place, for the purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral purpose, any alien, in pursuance of such illegal importation, shall be fined under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. The trial and punishment of offenses under this section may be in any district to or into which such alien is brought in pursuance of importation by the person or persons accused, or in any district in which a violation of any of the provisions of this section occurs. In all prosecutions under this section, the testimony of a husband or wife shall be admissible and competent evidence against each other.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1990—Pub. L. 101–649 substituted “shall be fined under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both” for “shall, in every such case, be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000 and by imprisonment for a term of not more than ten years”.
Effective Date of 1990 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 101–649 applicable to actions taken after Nov. 29, 1990, see section 543(c) of Pub. L. 101–649, set out as a note under section 1221 of this title.
Cross References
Definition of alien and United States, see section 1101 of this title.