Correspondence - Item 27 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

April 10, 2025 The Honorable Kristi Noem The Honorable Kika Scott Secretary Acting Director Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Washington, D.C. 20528 Camp Springs, M.D. 20746 Secretary Noem and Acting Director Scott, As members of Congress, we express our strong opposition to the recently released Interim Final Rule (IFR) on"Alien Registration Form and Evidence of Registration" published on March 12, 2025, which would coerce undocumented immigrants to not only register their presence, but also to surrender their biometric identification to the United States government. The rule, as written, raises serious constitutional concerns, fails to adequately address privacy protections, and does not seriously consider the costs imposed on federal, state, and local governments as a result of its implementation and enforcement. The IFR weaponizes an obsolete World War II-era registration requirement for immigrants through the Alien Registration Act of 1940. See 8 U.S.C. § 1302. The registration requirement mandates that non-citizens 14 years of age and older who are staying in the U.S. for 30 days or more and have not already applied for a visa or undergone certain other immigration processes must register and be fingerprinted within 30 days. It is clear that the data collected through registration will be used for detention and deportation, and non-compliance will result in criminal penalties. We find it particularly egregious that the Trump Administration continues to attempt not only to further criminalize the immigration process, but also to undermine constitutional protections that apply to all residing within the United States, not just U.S. citizens. The IFR Undermines Core Constitutional Protections and Will Lead to Racial Profiling of Communities with Legal Status Every individual residing in the United States is entitled to certain constitutional protections, including due process and freedom from racial discrimination. However, legal experts have expressed concern that Latinos living in the U.S. will be racially profiled as a result of this IFR.' Enforcement of this IFR will, by nature, rely on the national origin of individuals under scrutiny of law enforcement officials, which will undoubtedly lead to racial profiling, wrongful arrests and detention of U.S. citizens and other individuals with lawful status. In fact, the implementation of similar laws at the state-level have raised similar constitutional concerns and have been proven to violate the rights of both, noncitizens that the laws seek to target, and U.S. citizens.' 1 ABC News,DHS registry for migrants in the US raises alarm from immigration advocates. https:Habcnews.go.com/US/immigration-law-experts-raise-concerns-dhs-registry-migrants/story?id=119231088 2 Campbell,Kristina M. (2013). (Un)Reasonable Suspicion:Racial Profiling in Immigration Enforcement After Arizona v.United States. Wake Forest Journal ofLaw and Policy, 367. https:Hdigitalcommons.law.udc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=107l&context=fac journal_articles&utm