US illegal immigrants registration: In its bid to curb the issue of illegal immigration in the country, the Trump administration is creating a registry for all people living illegally in the US. The move requires those living illegally to get registered, give fingerprints, and provide an address. In case illegal immigrants fail to self-report, they may face fines or prosecution, immigration officials said on Tuesday.
The US officials have launched a crackdown on illegal immigration in the country as the Trump administration seeks to fulfil the promises of carrying out mass deportations and sealing the border to future asylum seekers made during the election campaign.
In one of his 10 inauguration day executive orders related to immigration, US President Donald Trump had outlined plans aimed at creating a registry as well as directed Homeland Security to “immediately announce and publicise information about the legal obligation of all previously unregistered aliens in the United States to comply."
Moreover, the Department of Homeland Security cites a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act—the complex immigration law—as justification for the registration process, which would apply to anyone 14 and older.
Failure to register would be considered a crime, and the administration has said its initial priority target for deportation is people who've committed crimes in the US.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Service would soon create a form and process for registration on its website. In an official statement, it was said, "An alien's failure to register is a crime that could result in a fine, imprisonment, or both," the statement said, adding, "For decades, this law has been ignored—not anymore."
The National Immigration Law Centre, an immigration advocacy group, said in a posting on its website before the Tuesday night announcement that “the Alien Registration Act of 1940 is the only time the US government carried out a comprehensive campaign to require all noncitizens to register."
The organisation said under that process, people had to go to their local post office to register, and the goal was to identify “potential national security threats broadly characterised as communist or subversive."
(With inputs from AP)
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