The Trump administration is pushing migrants to be fingerprinted for a new registry of people illegally in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced late Tuesday.
The requirement points to a little-used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that requires anyone over the age of 14 who is unlawfully present in the country to register with authorities and alert the government of any change in address.
Speaking with Fox News after the announcement, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the platform would be used to help migrants “relocate” to their home country.
“The Alien Registration Act says that within 30 days of being in this country illegally, someone must register with the federal government. They will be fingerprinted. They must announce that they are here. And if they do so, they can avoid criminal charges and fines and we will help them relocate right back to their home country,” she said during an appearance on “Jesse Watters Primetime.”
The move will still need to be published as an interim rule before it takes effect.
Those in the U.S. on visas and other legal pathways already are fingerprinted and coordinate with immigration agencies.
Expanding the process to those in the country unlawfully is not expected to drive voluntary compliance. The government is largely unaware of where the nation’s estimated more than 11 million people illegally in the country live, and the threat of deportation is likely to make most migrants hesitant to register.
Noem’s department, however, pointed to potential criminal penalties for anyone who does not comply, including six months in prison or a $1,000 fine.
Immigration advocates blasted the move as a cruel policy that would push migrants in the country illegally to make difficult choices, while pushing all migrants to carry proof of immigration status.
Nayna Gupta, policy director with the American Immigration Council, said the policy will put migrants in a “horrible position.”
“This is really telling those undocumented people, either you follow the law and report to us and get yourself deported, or you don’t and take the risk of being swept up in an arrest and being thrown into a federal prison,” she said, with potential prosecution risking any ability to return to the U.S.
“This is absolutely a tool to force essentially every noncitizen in this country to carry around their papers as proof of whether or not they’ve registered. That is unprecedented. We’ve never been a ‘carry around your papers’ country. That’s not how we historically treated immigrants,” she added.
Gupta added that migrants have a right to not disclose their immigration status to immigration agents who do not have a warrant.
A statement from DHS downplayed the risk of deportation and potential issues with any return to the U.S. for those who do not register.
“President Trump and Secretary Noem have a clear message for those in our country illegally: leave now. If you leave now, you may have the opportunity to return and enjoy our freedom and live the American dream,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
“The Trump administration will enforce all our immigration laws—we will not pick and choose which laws we will enforce. We must know who is in our country for the safety and security of our homeland and all Americans.”
Updated at 11:18 a.m. EST
