‘Mass self-deportation’: how does DHS's illegal immigrant registry drive voluntary deportation?

"If you leave now, you may have the opportunity to return and live the American dream,"  explains the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in its new campaign to motivate illegal immigrants to leave the United States on their own. As part of these efforts, in recent hours it announced the reinstatement of an old idea: the mandatory alien registration.

The measure is aimed at undocumented foreigners who live in the country but are not registered in any public registry. They will have to go to the authorities to register data such as their address and fingerprints. In return, they will receive a "evidence of registration" that those over 18 years of age must carry with them "at all times".

Part of the novelty of the registry is the penalties for non-compliance: penalties may be both civil and criminal. Prior to the Trump Administration, being unlawfully present on US soil was only a civil infraction (less serious than a criminal one). Whether or not to receive criminal charges depended on the mode of entry.

Until now: those who must appear on the very new registry and refuse to do so could face criminal charges. They could face financial penalties, prison sentences or both. The same is true for those who, already registered, do not communicate their new address after moving.

Old idea, new implementation

The DHS assures that they are simply applying an existing but ignored law: the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). "For decades, this law has been ignored—not anymore," the department says.

Its first version was passed more than 70 years ago. Every immigrant within the nation's borders was required to go to a local post office in 1940 to leave his or her fingerprint and complete 15 sentences: My name is.... I was born in (or near).... I expect to remain in the United States... My occupation is...

There were less innocent spaces to fill in: one asked about criminal history, another about whether you had joined politically tinged organizations. Rather than against illegal immigration, the measure had been promulgated against communism, according to experts such as Deanne Puloka of McKendree University.

How does the new registry work?

While DHS acknowledges that "most" aliens are listed for some reason or another on state monitors, "a significant number" remain under the radar. They claim this is because there were no ways to register, which they promised to fix: "USCIS is establishing a new form and process by which they may register."

Although details of the new registration method are still unknown, as of this week immigrants can take the first steps by creating an account at USCIS online. DHS promised to provide more information shortly. As an online process, it is ubiquitous, which could help with the agency's promise: "No alien will have an excuse for failure to comply with this law."

"Mass self-deportation"

It's safer for immigrants and law enforcement. Saves taxpayer money. It preserves immigration agency resources. All those are, in the eyes of DHS, the benefits of "Mass self-deportation" for the United States.

For migrants, the benefit is that the country's doors are not closed to them forever. In the words of Secretary Kristi Noem: "President Trump has a clear message: if you are here illegally, we will find you and deport you. You will never return. But if you leave now, you may have an opportunity to return and enjoy our freedom and live the American Dream."

That message will be broadcast on radio, television, internet, in multiple languages, both outside and inside the country. "Ads will be hyper-targeted, including through social media, text message and digital to reach illegal immigrants," promised from DHS as it launched a "multimillion-dollar" ad campaign to promote self-deportation.

"Follow the law and you'll find opportunity, if you break it, you'll find consequences," Noem says one-on-one to immigrants, already on US soil or dreaming of reaching it, in one of the campaign pieces:

The self-deportation promoted in that campaign and through the immigrant registry is not an invention of the Trump administration. Nor of contemporary Republicans, as Mitt Romney already used the term in his 2012 presidential race. Its possible applications go beyond these two measures: from employment to education, access to housing and financial aid, the goal is to address the daily lives of those who reside illegally in the country.

The government, however, did not refer, at least openly, to a cross-cutting strategy to encourage illegal immigrants to take the path back home.

Although from the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation they point to another government measure as an incentive for self-deportation: the end of federal benefits for undocumented aliens. The next, they advised, should be to facilitate "sharing information across federal & state agencies to make sure immigration law is enforced across the board."