White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security advisor Stephen Miller has warned that the United States’ Alien Registration Act will now be enforced, and “illegals who fail to register with the government, as required by law, will be criminally prosecuted.”
Under the Alien Registration Act, which had not been enforced for 75 years, all non-citizens are required to register with the government, submit their fingerprints, and provide the address where they are residing.
Miller confirmed that the law will now be enforced in a post to X, responding to a Politico article titled, “Federal prosecutors now charging immigrants who don’t submit fingerprints under dormant 1940s law.”
Illegals who fail to register with the government, as required by law, will be criminally prosecuted. https://t.co/JgPgTRxZBr
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) June 14, 2025
Politico reports:
Since April, law enforcement in Louisiana, Arizona, Montana, Alabama, Texas and Washington, D.C., have charged people with willful “failure to register” under the Alien Registration Act, an offense most career federal public defenders have never encountered before. Many of those charged were already in jail and in ongoing deportation proceedings when prosecutors presented judges with the new charges against them.
The registration provision in the law, which was passed in 1940 amid widespread public fear about immigrants’ loyalty to the U.S., had been dormant for 75 years, but it is still on the books. Failure to register is considered a “petty offense” — a misdemeanor with maximum penalties of six months imprisonment or a $1,000 fine.
In reviving the law, the Trump administration may put undocumented immigrants in a catch-22. If they register, they must hand over detailed, incriminating information to the federal government — including how and when they entered the country. But knowingly refusing to register is also a crime, punishable by arrest or prosecution, on top of the ever-present threat of deportation.
There is a third option, the report noted, which is to incentivize illegal aliens to self-deport.
The Department of Homeland Security announced the law would begin being enforced back in February.
“An alien’s failure to depart the U.S. is a crime that could result in significant financial penalty. An alien’s failure to register is a crime that could result in a fine, imprisonment, or both. For decades, this law has been ignored—not anymore,” DHS said in a press release. “Compelling mass self-deportation is a safer path for aliens and law enforcement, and saves U.S. taxpayer dollars, in addition to conserving valuable Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) resources needed to keep Americans safe.”
DHS Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said of the changes, “President Trump and Secretary Noem have a clear message for those in our country illegally: leave now. If you leave now, you may have the opportunity to return and enjoy our freedom and live the American dream.”
“The Trump administration will enforce all our immigration laws—we will not pick and choose which laws we will enforce. We must know who is in our country for the safety and security of our homeland and all Americans.”
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