FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Inquiries Contact: press@alianzaamericas.org 

Cindy Cruz - El Salvador +503 7803 8465

Sandra Diaz - United States (773) 638-4278

Chicago, IL- On February 25, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced its plan to require immigrants with irregular status, including children as young as 14, present in the United States, to register and provide their fingerprints to the U.S. government or potentially face civil and criminal penalties. The announcement refers to the implementation of Section 262 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which was initially designed to monitor and identify potential national security threats broadly characterized as communist or subversive at its enactment. 

This is yet another strategy to terrorize immigrants across the country. The Trump administration is frustrated that they have not managed to meet their outrageous and inhumane goal of mass deportations, and are now pushing a mass media campaign to scare our communities into forcibly returning to their countries of origin. This would also repeat one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history, when the country used registration information to confine Japanese non-citizens in internment camps. It also mirrors the special registration efforts after 9/11, which mainly targeted men from Muslim-majority countries. This measure is cruel and will undoubtedly lead to human rights violations. 

“This policy is not just an administrative measure—it is a dangerous tool of surveillance and criminalization that echoes some of history’s darkest chapters, including the tactics used by Adolf Hitler to register, track, and ultimately persecute entire populations. We should all fight against this persecution,” stated Dulce Guzmán, Executive Director of Alianza Americas. “Many people living in the U.S. with irregular status are not here by choice. We must remember the systemic and structural factors leading people to seek refuge and better opportunities.” Concluded Guzmán.

"The registration omission would result in a criminal punishment or a fee. This is disproportional and inhumane. At a time when Congress is discussing cuts to Medicaid or Medicare to fund immigration enforcement, this decision shows that rather than prioritizing the well-being of families, the administration prefers to pursue its anti-immigrant agenda,” stated Helena Olea, Deputy Director of Alianza Americas.

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Alianza Americas is the premier transnational advocacy network of Latin American migrant-led organizations working in the United States, across the Americas, and globally to create an inclusive, equitable and sustainable way of life for communities across North, Central and South America.

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