The Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that it will use “every available tool to compel illegal aliens to self-deport.”
“President [Donald] Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] 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,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
“The Trump administration will enforce all our immigration laws. We will not pick and choose which laws we will enforce,” McLaughlin added. “We must know who is in our country for the safety and security of our homeland and all Americans.”
The Immigration and Nationality Act is among the laws that DHS Secretary Noem says her department will fully enforce. The act was put in place in 1952 and revised in 1965, and includes a provision that requires aliens to register with the federal government, be fingerprinted, and report their address within 30 days of entering the country.
“Enforcing the alien registration section of the Immigration and Nationality Act is critical,” Lora Ries, director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal.
“The Biden administration let most of the 11 million [Customs and Border Protection] inadmissible alien encounters into the U.S., and there were millions more gotaways—aliens who evaded the Border Patrol,” Ries said.
“We have no idea who is here and where many of them are,” she continued. “It is common sense to require aliens to tell the U.S. who and where they are. And if they do not, it is a ground for deportation, which should be fully enforced.”
Illegal aliens who fail to self-deport, register and be fingerprinted, or notify the government of changes to their address could face criminal penalties, according to Trump’s DHS.
“An alien’s failure to depart the U.S. is a crime that could result in significant financial penalty,” according to the DHS. “An alien’s failure to register is a crime that could result in a fine, imprisonment, or both. For decades, this law has been ignored. Not anymore.”
Self-deportation is safer for illegal immigrants and for law enforcement, according to DHS, and will save U.S. taxpayer money.
Illegal aliens who never registered with the U.S. are being directed to create an account with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS says a form to register will be available soon.
Most illegal aliens present in the U.S. have already been registered, but, according to USCIS, “a significant number of aliens present in the United States have had no direct way in which to register and meet their obligation” under Section 262 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
“Registration is not an immigration status,” according to USCIS, “and registration documentation does not establish employment authorization or any other right or benefit” under U.S. law.