EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Leaders from some of the nation’s largest immigrant advocacy organizations say they are yet to hear of any undocumented client volunteering personal information to the federal government.
But they say the Trump administration’s new Alien Registration Requirement (ARR) has sown fear among the undocumented community, pushing many deeper into anonymity and, in some cases, prompting them to leave the country.
“We haven’t seen anybody register. We have seen people thoroughly confused and afraid – afraid to come forward and apply for benefits in their local community that they are perfectly eligible to receive, for fear they may be asked this registration question,” said George Escobar, chief of programs and services for Casa, an immigrant services organization operating in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Georgia.
The ARR requires anyone who has not applied for legal entry or whose documents expired to register by filing form G-325A (Biographic Information for Deferred Action) and be fingerprinted by the government – if they were not in the past.
Failure to register with ARR could result in fines and incarceration, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Border Report reached out to USCIS for comment and to verify how many undocumented individuals have registered so far and is awaiting a response.
“We don’t have anybody that we know who has yet registered,” added Angelica Salas, executive director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA). “There is a lot of confusion whether to do this or not. What does it mean, what are the risks? There is also a clarity that everything that has come from this Administration has been harmful” to immigrant communities.
As to what it means, some advocates called it a “deportation scheme.”
“This misguided effort will entrap individuals into the enforcement pipeline,” said Nicole Melaku, executive director for the National Partnership for New Americans. “Please inform yourselves about this policy, understand the risks of registering and seek legal advice for your particular situation. It is imperative that you know your rights. Every person facing the immigration system is entitle to his day in immigration court.”
If the goal also is to scare some of the undocumented into leaving the country, some of that is already happening.
“There have been some folks who’ve left on their own,” said Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition. “The vast majority of folks are fighting to stay because we belong here.”
The advocates said they are planning nationwide events on May 1 to speak out against the registry and other Trump administration immigration policies. Advocates, faith leaders, teachers, trade workers and “people of conscience” will be participating, Salas said.
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