DHS announces undocumented immigrants registry that includes fingerprints
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Immigrants wait to be transported by U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on January 20, 2025 near Sasabe, Arizona. Photo: John Moore/Getty Images
Undocumented immigrants age 14 or older must register and provide fingerprints or face a fine or even imprisonment under new Trump administration plans announced Tuesday.
The big picture: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the escalation in the administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants that she vowed the administration would enforce.
Driving the news: Undocumented immigrants will from Tuesday be required to register and create an USCIS online account, per a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services online page.
- The Department of Homeland Security will soon announce a form to complete the registration requirement, according to the post.
- The requirement applies to anyone in the U.S. for 30 days or longer.
- Once a person has registered and been fingerprinted, DHS will issue "evidence of registration," which immigrants over 18 must carry and keep with them at all times, according to USCIS.
Zoom in: Per a DHS statement, penalties will be imposed on undocumented immigrants who:
- Willfully fail to depart the U.S.
- Fail to register with the federal government and be fingerprinted.
- Fail to tell the federal government of changes to their address.
What they're saying: Noem said on Fox News' "Jesse Watters Primetime" Tuesday evening those who follow the requirements "can avoid criminal charges and fines and we will help them relocate right back to their home country."
- The program provides "them an opportunity to come back someday and to be a part of the American dream," but if they don't register, "they're breaking the federal law, which has always been in place," Noem told Fox News' Jesse Watters.
- "We're just going to start enforcing it to make sure" the undocumented immigrants go "back home," Noem said. "And when they want to be an American, then they can come and visit us again."
Between the lines: The new order will likely face strong opposition from civil liberties organizations and immigrant rights groups since it attempts to criminalize undocumented immigrants.
- Being in the country illegally is a civil violation and not a criminal one.
- Critics will likely say such requirements would require new laws, not executive orders or policy changes.
Zoom out: Since President Trump declared a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border soon after taking office in January, his administration has moved to unleash sweeping limits on undocumented immigrants, asylum-seekers and refugees.
- The administration has faced several lawsuits challenging the crackdown, including Trump's move to end birthright citizenship.
- DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Trump and Noem were sending a "clear message for those in our country illegally" with the latest drive.
- "The Trump administration will enforce all our immigration laws — we will not pick and choose which laws we will enforce," McLaughlin said. "We must know who is in our country for the safety and security of our homeland and all Americans."
Go deeper: Texas, Mississippi have the most detained immigrants
Editor's note: This article has been updated with further context.
