A federal judge is allowing the Trump administration to move forward with a requirement that everyone in the U.S. illegally must register with the federal government, in a move that could have far-reaching repercussions for immigrants across the country.
In a ruling Thursday, Judge Trevor Neil McFadden sided with the administration, which had argued that they were simply enforcing an already existing requirement for everyone in the country who wasn’t an American citizen to register with the government.
The requirement goes into effect Friday.
The Department of Homeland Security announced Feb. 25 that it was mandating that all people in the United States illegally register with the federal government, and said those who didn’t self-report could face fines or prosecution. Failure to register is considered a crime, and people will be required to carry registration documents with them or risk prison time and fines.
Registration will be mandatory for everyone 14 and older without legal status. People registering have to provide their fingerprints and address, and parents and guardians of anyone under age 14 must ensure they registered.
The registration process also applies to Canadians who are in the U.S. for more than 30 days, such as so-called snowbirds who spend winter months in places like Florida.
Federal immigration law has long required that people who aren’t American citizens and live in the U.S., including those here illegally, register with the government. Those laws can be traced back to the Alien Registration Act of 1940, which came amid growing fears of immigrants and political subversives in the early days of World War II. The current requirements stem from the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.
But the requirement that people illegally in the U.S. register has been enforced only in rare circumstances. In fact, advocates opposing the government say it hasn’t been universally used since it was first introduced in the mid-1940s.
It was used in a limited way after Sept. 11, 2001, when the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System required that all noncitizen males 16 and older from 25 countries — all but one of them majority Arab or Muslim — register with the U.S. government. The program led to no terrorism convictions but pulled more than 13,000 people into deportation proceedings. It was suspended in 2011 and dissolved in 2016.
The Trump administration has argued that the registration requirement has always existed and that officials are simply enforcing it for everyone.
The groups that sued say this registration process is expressly to facilitate President Donald Trump’s aim of carrying out mass deportations of people in the country illegally.
The plaintiffs also say the government should have gone through the more lengthy public notification process before bringing about the change.
They argue that the registry puts people who work, contribute to the economy and have deep family ties in America into a deep bind: Do they come forward, register and essentially give up their location to a government intent on carrying out mass deportations, or do they stay in the shadows and risk being charged with the crime of not registering?
The government has already asked people subject to the registration requirement to create an account on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website.
