Fears of racial profiling swirl over registration policy for immigrants in the US illegally
By TERRY TANG PHOENIX AP The Trump administration s plan to strictly require anyone illegally in the U S to register with the executive and carry documentation is stirring up fears of heightened racial profiling even among legal residents immigrants rights advocates say For certain it s a return to a setting from the modern past in which police departments and other law enforcement agencies insistence on documentation drove immigrants underground and increased constituents safety concerns It happens already to an extent I think this would make it even worse because how would you know somebody is undocumented reported Jose Pati o vice president of coaching and external affairs for Aliento an Arizona-based advocacy organization that supports immigrants without documents It creates ambiguity of how you re going to enforce and identify people who are not in the country legally A federal judge sided with President Donald Trump earlier this month in a lawsuit brought by immigrants rights groups over the procedures and the mandate took effect April Trump administrators say they are totally enforcing a requirement that has been law for decades The Trump administration will enforce all our immigration laws we will not pick and choose which laws we will enforce U S Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem stated in the declaration after the ruling We must know who is in our country for the safety and assurance of our homeland and all Americans Under federal law everyone and older without legal status must self-register and give fingerprints and an address Parents and guardians of anyone younger must ensure they are registered Not doing so is considered a crime and a lack of documents risks prison time and fines FILE U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers use a chain to more comfortably restrain a detained person using handcuffs positioned in front Jan in Silver Spring Md AP Photo Alex Brandon file FILE Caitlin Sanger of Franklin Park N J pauses to cry outside the Supreme Court in Washington June as she speaks about her father being detained by ICE and protests immigrant families being split up AP Photo Carolyn Kaster file FILE Fatima Mercedes who s son was lately detained cries while being interviewed by journalists during a protest against ICE and migrant detentions in Elizabeth N J March AP Photo Seth Wenig file Show Caption of FILE U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers use a chain to more comfortably restrain a detained person using handcuffs positioned in front Jan in Silver Spring Md AP Photo Alex Brandon file Expand Complications and confusion about enforcement The mandate has rarely been enforced under previous administrations To complicate matters there have been new instances of leadership detaining even people born in the U S as confusion also sweeps through other federal and state immigration policies An online appointment app used by temporary residents has sent work permit cancellations since late March including to U S citizens A growing number of Republican-led states also are refusing to recognize state driver s licenses specially issued for immigrants without documents Guerline Jozef executive director of the nonprofit Haitian Bridge Alliance says racial profiling already happens at a disproportionate rate to Black displaced persons The sudden pivot has aggravated things and people with Temporary Protected Status or who had regular Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-ins have been detained during journey she disclosed She decried the whole ordeal as a form of psychological warfare Immigrants who were allowed temporary legal residence are not sure if they need to protectively carry documents at all times It is very hard to even communicate with the locality members on what to do telling them they need to know their rights but they trample on their rights anyway Jozef stated We are back in the show me your papers era Show me your papers The new mandate evokes previous instances of certain groups having to carry documentation During the time of enslavement in the U S freed Black people had to have freedom papers or pitfall being re-enslaved During World War II Japanese Americans were required to register and keep identification cards but were put in incarceration camps The statutes that are on the books about registration have been dormant for years stated Lynn Marcus director of immigration law clinics at the University of Arizona James E Rogers College of Law There weren t forms to comply with this requirement It was created in wartime originally The renewed strict registration requirement forces U S citizens to carry birth certificates or other proof of citizenship at all times especially if they have a foreign appearance Marcus announced People who are valid residents or visa holders could potentially be profiled based on factors other than physical characteristics Let s say law enforcement encounters someone in another circumstance maybe they re reporting a crime Marcus announced They might not be satisfied with answers if they aren t able to communicate because not all U S citizens speak fluent English Impacts on immigrants well-being Eileen Diaz McConnell a professor at Arizona State University s School of Transborder Studies pointed to the effects of a Arizona law requiring all immigrants to obtain or carry immigration registration papers In the Justice Department sued the state over the law and the U S Supreme Court overturned the papers requirement but those two years when the requirement was in place were a traumatic time for Latino families in the state McConnell commented Related Articles ICE is reversing termination of legal status for international students around US lawyer says Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan is accused of helping a man evade immigration agents and is arrested Judge bars Trump from denying federal funds to sanctuary cities that limit immigration cooperation Federal judge temporarily halts order for details on any efforts to return Abrego Garcia to US Trump dividing line czar tout charges against people in Tren de Aragua affair including suspect in Aurora video Parents wouldn t ride together in a car They were invariably separated because they were worried they would be stopped Diaz McConnell reported People don t leave their house She has done extensive research on how immigration policies can impact the mental soundness of mixed households of family members who are American-born and don t have documents In previous years children statement even if they re U S -born real harm impacts on their own sleep worry not eating depression Diaz McConnell reported There will be people who will say things like Well if you re not undocumented what do you have to worry about Pati o whose undocumented parents brought him to the U S when he was is accustomed to keeping papers as a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient He knows others without special status are now panicked The single mother of one of his U S -born former interns has stopped going to the grocery store church and other places since she lacks documents It s like she s afraid of her shadow or like even to go out and throw out the trash he explained People who crossed the limit without documents are especially unsure whether to register in the wake of international students and others being detained or deported even though they had visas or pending court hearings You re asking people to come out of the shadows and enroll us in a system that the majority of them perhaps have not heard of Pati o announced It seems the administration is trying to go catch- with folks You are in trouble if you do you re in trouble if you don t
