The American Council of Immigration does not approve or oppose candidates for elected offices. We aim to provide an analysis of the impact of elections on the US immigration system.
Sarah Hamudi was 12 years old, who was forced to “register” with the US Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) because her parents were non-citizens of Muslim countries. She still remembers the unease they felt when they reported to the US government. As they feared, their forced ice registration would ultimately lead to years of pain and separation without lifting up the daughter of a DACA recipient, who would build decades of life in Ohio and pay taxes. The harm they suffered from this mandatory registration is something millions of people can experience right away through the new non-civil registration process announced by the Trump administration this month.
Under a new process of reviving outdated immigration laws, some undocumented people face impossible choices. Register with the federal government and face detention and deportation. Or you fail to register and face the possibility of criminal prosecution and time in federal prison. According to the administration, this applies to around 2-3 million people. Many have lived in the United States for over a decade, most of whom have no criminal history, but have spent years making a rich contribution to the local economy and community.
9/11 and later: Last registration requirements
The end of modern history, when the US government imposed a registration requirement, was the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack, when Sarah’s family faced this same impossible choice. After signing up for Ice, Sarah’s family found themselves subject to long-standing interactions with Ice, including the traumatic moon in Sarah’s mother’s immigration detention and the deportation of her sister Tina to Morocco. Sarah and her parents have since acquired legal status and citizenship, but Tina is still returning to Ohio and fighting to be reunited with her parents and her two young children.
Sarah’s family was one of the thousands who were hurt by the National Security Intrusion Registration System (NSEERS) program, which requires people from certain Muslim countries to register with the government. Under the NSEERS, families like Sarah had constant surveillance and simple targets at any time, even years after being registered, due to strict immigration enforcement in the name of national security. The program led to the deportation of around 14,000 non-citizens with deep connections to the United States. The Bush administration justified the selective registration process needed to identify terrorists. However, no real terrorism beliefs arose.
Now, the Trump administration is taking it to a more extreme level by reinstating the registration requirement and imposing it on millions of non-citizens, including non-citizens who entered the country without permission, entry or parole. Many non-citizens are considered registered under expired visas, current work approvals, or ongoing deletion procedures, but millions of other people who have lived for years, decades, and decades are forced into this impossible choice.
No benefits registration
Requiring non-citizens to register with the federal government is not a new idea, nor is it an idea that has been included in legislative proposals for many years. However, unlike previous registry proposals that provide a path to legal status and temporary protection for non-citizens, this new process does not offer any benefits.
For example, the Immigration Management and Reform Act of 1986 contained a registration clause, which resulted in nearly 3 million undocumented immigrants presenting it to authorities. Registration under that law violated immigration law and required the payment of a fine as a result of filing it for a criminal history check. But in exchange, the government provided legal status to those people.
The new non-citizen registration process does the opposite. This is the first time the US has implemented a massive registration requirement without any positive or meaningfulness, and responded only with deportation or prosecution.
With approximately 11 million people living in the United States, which violates the Civil Immigration Act, the country needs an immigration system that encourages compliance. If the US government is trying to impose registration requirements, it must at least present a path to legal status.
Move to a country that “carries papers”
In addition to eliminating only punishments for some non-citizens, this new process suggests that millions of other processes must carry their papers when interacting with law enforcement officers. Failure to carry proof of registration under the laws the administration intends to enforce along with the new registration process could also lead to criminal prosecution. In other words, non-citizens who have legal status and are considered registered, and who are considered to be registered, may need to have a paper with them at all times to show this evidence. This will be the first time that America has become a country that “carries your papers.” This is a practice that violates the interests of core libertarians and privacy that Americans have long admired.
Even decades after their forced registration, Sarah’s family continues to suffer the harm of their forced registration as they fight to reunite with Tina. Sarah is looking forward to the return of her beloved sisters and is responsible for caring for Tina’s two children, who continue to escape her mother’s absence when she grows up in Ohio.
The painful experiences in her family’s immigration system began with registration almost 20 years ago and remained in endless separation.
Submitted below: 9/11, Muslim Registration, Trump Administration
