vlog

Skip to content
NOWCAST vlog News at 10pm Weeknights
Live Now
Advertisement

Trump administration creates registry for undocumented immigrants

Trump administration creates registry for undocumented immigrants
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS LAUNCHED A RAPID PACED IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN. DENVER, CHICAGO, NEW YORK, MIAMI THE LIST OF CITIES WHERE FEDERAL AGENTS ARE CARRYING OUT RAIDS GROWS NEARLY EVERY DAY. THE IMAGES OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND BODY ARMOR ESCORTING HANDCUFFED PEOPLE, FLOODING SOCIAL MEDIA. BUT WHAT’S PERHAPS MOST CONSEQUENTIAL IS LANGUAGE IN THE ADMINISTRATION’S EXECUTIVE ORDERS. IT’S VERY INTENTIONAL USE OF SPECIFIC WORDS THAT CARRY GREAT POWER AND AUTHORITY FOR THE PRESIDENT. ERNESTO CASTANEDA IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN AND LATINO STUDIES AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY. IT’S SO NICE TO HAVE YOU BACK, SIR. THANK YOU SO MUCH, SOLEDAD. WHEN YOU LOOK SPECIFICALLY AT THE EXECUTIVE ORDERS PROTECTING THE UNITED STATES FROM FOREIGN TERRORISTS AND OTHER NATIONAL SECURITY AND PUBLIC SAFETY THREATS, WHAT’S THE IMPACT OF THE WORD TERROR AND TERRORIST? SO TERRORISM IS SOMETHING THAT WE KNOW BY EXPERIENCE. WE KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS VERY WELL. BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT ORGANIZED CRIME BASED IN IN MEXICO AND LATIN AMERICA ARE DOING. PEOPLE DO LOSE THEIR LIVES. BUT THE AIM OF THE ORGANIZED CRIME IS NOT TO TAKE OVER ANY ONE GOVERNMENT HERE OR THERE. SO THEREFORE IT’S A MISNOMER TO CALL THIS HORRIBLE ORGANIZATIONS TO CALL THEM TERRORISTS. BUT FOR PEOPLE ALREADY HERE WITH THIS DESIGNATION OF PEOPLE AS COMING OR COMING FROM PLACES WHERE THERE’S TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS, THEN IT’S EASIER TO DETAIN, TO STOP, TO IMPRISON AND TO DEPORT PEOPLE WITHOUT THE REGULAR DUE PROCESS THAT EVEN FOREIGNERS ARE ENTITLED TO. SO THIS MAKES THESE MASS DEPORTATIONS THAT HE WANTS TO DO SO MUCH EASIER TO CARRY OUT IN THIS NEW LEGAL FRAMEWORK. EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THE DUE PROCESS WAS BEFORE THESE EXECUTIVE ORDERS. PEOPLE THAT HAVE LIVED IN THE US FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS, EVEN WITHOUT UNDOCUMENTED STATUS, THEY CANNOT JUST BE A GRAB AND DEPORTED. THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO GO TO IMMIGRATION COURT TO PRESENT THE CASE. NOT THAT THEY’RE GOING TO WIN IT. MOST OF THE TIME THEY ARE DEPORTED ANYWAY, BUT THERE IS A SYSTEM OF LAWS THAT REGULATES HOW DEPORTATIONS HAPPEN. SO THAT IS WHAT TRUMP IS LOOKING TO DO AWAY WITH, WITH THESE EXECUTIVE ORDERS THAT TREAT THEM NOW AS ENEMY COMBATANTS SO THAT THEY CAN BE DEPORTED MUCH FASTER. THE OTHER WORD THAT I HAVE FOUND INTERESTING IS INVASION. WHY DOES FRAMING THIS AS AN INVASION IN A WAY, CHANGE THE IMPACT AND THE IMPORT OF THESE EXECUTIVE ORDERS, BECAUSE HE SAYS THERE’S AN INVASION NOW, HE CAN SAY THAT THERE’S A STATE OF EMERGENCY AND DEPLOY ACTIVE TROOPS TO THE US-MEXICO BORDER. AND NOW USING AIRPLANES FROM THE MILITARY FOR REMOVALS AND DEPORTATIONS. BUT AGAIN, THIS IS NOT TRUE. ASYLUM SEEKERS, IMMIGRANTS, UNACCOMPANIED MINORS ARRIVING AT THE US-MEXICO BORDER, FOR EXAMPLE, THEY DO NOT COME BEARING ARMS. THEY ARE NOT HERE TO TAKE OVER A TERRITORY AND DECLARE INDEPENDENCE. SO AGAIN, IT’S A MISNOMER. BUT AGAIN, IT OPENS ALL THESE AVENUES FOR DONALD TRUMP TO USE. FOR EXAMPLE, BUDGET FROM THE PENTAGON, FROM DEFENSE TO ENGAGE IN IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT. WHAT ARE YOUR PREDICTIONS ABOUT WHERE THIS GOES? TRUMP ALSO INVOKED THE ALIEN ENEMIES ACT OF 1798, WHICH SAYS THAT DURING WARTIME, ONLY THE US THEN HAS THE RIGHT TO DETAIN AND IMPRISON AND DEPORT THE FOREIGN BORN. BUT HE HAS NOT FORMALLY DECLARED WAR ON ANY OTHER NATION. SO WE ARE NOT AT WAR TIME. SO HE SHOULDN’T BE ABLE TO DO THIS. BUT HE’S ALREADY USING THE LANGUAGE OF WAR AND SHOWING THE IMAGES OF THE US BEING AT WAR. HE’S TRYING TO INVOKE THE FEELING THAT WE HAD AFTER NINE OVER 11 WHEN WE WERE ATTACKED, AND THAT THERE WAS A RALLY AROUND THE FLAG AND WHERE THE MILITARY PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN SOCIETY. HE’S TRYING TO GO TO GO BACK TO THAT, TO GARNER SUPPORT FOR HIS CAUSE. BUT WE ARE LIVING IN A DIFFERENT REALITY TODAY. EARNESTO CASTANEDA IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN AND LATINO STUDIES AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY. TH
Advertisement
Trump administration creates registry for undocumented immigrants
The Trump administration is creating a registry for all people who are in the United States illegally, and those who don't self-report could face fines or prosecution, immigration officials announced Tuesday.Everyone who is in the U.S. illegally must register, give fingerprints and provide an address, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. It cited 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.The announcement comes as the administration seeks to make good on campaign promises to carry out mass deportations of people in the country illegally and seal the border to future asylum-seekers.“An alien’s failure to register is a crime that could result in a fine, imprisonment, or both," the statement said. "For decades, this law has been ignored — not anymore.”On its website, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service said it would soon create a form and process for registration.In one of his 10 inauguration day executive orders related to immigration, President Donald Trump initially outlined plans for creating a registry and required that Homeland Security “immediately announce and publicize information about the legal obligation of all previously unregistered aliens in the United States to comply."Video below: What history tells us about the economic impact of mass deportationsIt was not immediately clear how many people living in the country illegally would voluntarily come forward and give the federal government information about who they are and where they're living. But 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 U.S.The National Immigration Law Center, 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 U.S. government carried out a comprehensive campaign to require all noncitizens to register.”The organization 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 characterized as communist or subversive.”The group warned that the registry was meant to help find potential targets for deportation.“Any attempt by the Trump administration to create a registration process for noncitizens previously unable to register would be used to identify and target people for detention and deportation,” the organization said.

The Trump administration is creating a registry for all people who are in the United States illegally, and those who don't self-report could face fines or prosecution, immigration officials announced Tuesday.

Everyone who is in the U.S. illegally must register, give fingerprints and provide an address, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. It cited 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.

Advertisement

The announcement comes as the administration seeks to make good on campaign promises to carry out mass deportations of people in the country illegally and seal the border to future asylum-seekers.

“An alien’s failure to register is a crime that could result in a fine, imprisonment, or both," the statement said. "For decades, this law has been ignored — not anymore.”

On its website, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service said it would soon create a form and process for registration.

In one of executive orders related to immigration, President Donald Trump initially outlined plans for creating a registry and required that Homeland Security “immediately announce and publicize information about the legal obligation of all previously unregistered aliens in the United States to comply."

Video below: What history tells us about the economic impact of mass deportations

It was not immediately clear how many people living in the country illegally would voluntarily come forward and give the federal government information about who they are and where they're living. But 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 U.S.

The National Immigration Law Center, 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 U.S. government carried out a comprehensive campaign to require all noncitizens to register.”

The organization 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 characterized as communist or subversive.”

The group warned that the registry was meant to help find potential targets for deportation.

“Any attempt by the Trump administration to create a registration process for noncitizens previously unable to register would be used to identify and target people for detention and deportation,” the organization said.