On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced that it intends to force illegal immigrants aged 14 and older to register and provide their fingerprints to the U.S. government. If they fail to do so, they will face criminal prosecution.
The initiative announced by the Department of Homeland Security is just the latest in immigration efforts by the federal government, which is trying to convince millions of illegal immigrants to leave the country.
In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the migrant registration plan is part of an effort aimed at “use every single tool at our disposal to do exactly what President Trump promised the American people.”
“President Trump and Secretary Noem have a clear message for those in our country illegally: Leave now,” Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the department, added, “If you leave now, you may have the opportunity to return and enjoy our freedom and live the American dream.” However, according to insiders, it is quite unlikely that illegal immigrants will “turn themselves in” of their own free will to the government, especially because of the danger of being deported.
Moreover, the new plan would be based on an existing immigration law. Shortly before the U.S. entered World War II, a rule was passed requiring undocumented immigrants to register with the government through local post offices.
Now, DHS has said that the registration requirement will not affect those with green cards, who are already in deportation proceedings or who entered the country on a visa.
“We’re seeing an effort to expand arrests through any means possible, so this provision likely aims to create additional justifications to arrest and deport more individuals from the country,” said to The New York Times Cris Ramón, a senior immigration adviser for UnidosUS, a civil rights organization. “It also creates additional confusion for undocumented individuals, increasing the fear that’s gripped them and their families since late January.”
Meanwhile, yesterday, Federal Judge Jamal Whitehead blocked the MAGA leader’s attempt to indefinitely suspend the program to admit asylum seekers to the United States.
Whitehead ruled that a president’s authority to suspend this type of plan is not unlimited, but must comply with the legislative framework provided by Congress.
The sudden shutdown of admissions sought by Trump soon after he took office had resulted in the cancellation of planned and already approved entries for refugees from around the world, including 1,660 Afghans. The judge’s decision came in the wake of a lawsuit filed by specialized assistance organizations and a number of individuals affected by the president’s provisions.
Among them was a Congolese family that had sold all its assets in order to move, legally, to the United States.
