The Justice Department is wielding a little-known law to criminally charge unauthorized immigrants who have failed to register their presence in the country, threatening them with potential jail time and fines under a new Trump administration initiative.
The first prosecutions came just days after authorities on April 11 resurrected a federal registration requirement, used during World War II, to meet the goals of an executive order from President Donald Trump. Administration officials described the regulation, which mandates that people 14 and older provide fingerprints and home addresses, as a national security precaution that will allow authorities to more closely track the whereabouts of millions of immigrants in the United States.
But the Justice Department's early attempts to win convictions against those who fail to register have faced skepticism and defeats before some federal judges. And the initiative has been met with sharp opposition from immigrant advocates, who warn that registering with the government could expose migrants to a greater risk of deportation.
Since April 11, when the Department of Homeland Security established a new immigrant registration form, prosecutors have used a statute created in 1940 to charge dozens of people across the country with failing to sign up-a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to six months in prison and $5,000 in fines.
Although most cases are in the early stages of adjudication, at least six in which defendants challenged the charges have been thrown out by judges or withdrawn by prosecutors amid questioning from the courts, according to a Washington Post analysis of court records. More than a dozen others have already pleaded guilty.
Posted by John3262005