A coalition of pro-immigration organizations in the United States has sued the Trump administration over its requirement that millions of illegal immigrants in the country register with the federal government.
The American Civil Liberties Union, American Immigration Council, American Immigration Lawyers Association, National Immigration Law Center, RFK Human Rights, and CASA sued the Department of Homeland Security in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Monday. They alleged in their lawsuit that a rule the DHS published in March would turn the U.S. into a “show me your papers country.”
“With a stroke of the pen, the Trump administration is trying to turn the U.S. into a ‘show me your papers state’ where millions of immigrants, naturalized citizens, and natural-born citizens could be harassed by law enforcement because of their skin color, the neighborhood they live in, or the language they speak,” AIC Executive Director Jeremy Robbins said in a statement.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced earlier this month that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would set up a website for immigrants to register with the federal government as the first step in self-deporting.
Noem’s announcement followed through on President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, which directs the DHS to ensure all “aliens” comply with the government mandate outlined in the Immigration and Nationality Act.
That law requires that immigrants age 14 or older who were not previously fingerprinted or registered when obtaining a visa or being released into the country from the border do so now.
Immigrants would then be given registration cards that they must carry with them at all times.
Failure to register or carry the registration card puts immigrants at risk of criminal and civil penalties, a new addition compared to years past. Offenders could face a maximum $5,000 fine and six months in federal prison.
Michelle Lapointe, legal director at the AIC, said the U.S. “is not a ‘carry your papers’ country, and this rule jeopardizes the freedoms and rights of millions of people who live here.”
The lawsuit alleges that the government published the rule without allowing the standard period for public comment and argues that the order was “confusingly written, and implementing it will cause chaos,” according to a press release.
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“The Trump administration knows that Americans overwhelmingly reject the assault on freedom caused by arbitrary police demands for identity documents,” said Anthony Enriquez, vice president of U.S. advocacy and litigation at RFK Human Rights, in a statement. “That’s why it is trying to deny us all the opportunity to weigh in on this fundamental change to America’s identity.”
The DHS and White House did not respond to requests for comment.