By Steve Neavling
The Trump administration announced plans Tuesday to require undocumented immigrants 14 and older to register with the U.S. government and provide fingerprints — or risk criminal prosecution.
The Department of Homeland Security’s proposal marks a sharp escalation in efforts to pressure millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally to leave voluntarily. The administration has repeatedly urged them to depart, and now it is adding a legal threat.
“President Trump and Secretary Noem have a clear message for those in our country illegally: Leave now,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, referring to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “If you leave now, you may have the opportunity to return and enjoy our freedom and live the American dream.”
In an interview with Fox News, Noem said the registry was part of a broader push to “use every single tool at our disposal to do exactly what President Trump promised the American people.”
Migrants who fail to register could face civil or criminal penalties, including fines. But widespread compliance is unlikely, given Trump’s repeated threats of mass deportations and the difficulty of tracking unauthorized immigrants.
The move signals the administration’s intent to make conditions increasingly hostile for undocumented immigrants in hopes they will leave the country voluntarily.
“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 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.”
The plan is based on an existing but rarely enforced law requiring undocumented immigrants to register with the government at their local post office—a measure enacted just before the U.S. entered World War II.
