IMMIGRANT REGISTRATION PROCESS IS HARMFUL, OFFERS NO BENEFITS, AND REQUIRES ALL TO CARRY YOUR PAPERS

“Registration” has been used in the past leading to terrible results, and may set the stage for mass round ups, coercive prosecutions, and racial profiling of immigrants and citizens alike.

Los Angeles, CA – Immigrant rights leaders representing some of the oldest and largest immigrant rights organizations in the United States, held a virtual press conference on Thursday, March 13, 2025, to denounce the Trump Administration’s expanding deportation efforts in the form of an immigrant “registration” process that would create a national “show me your papers” system which may lead countless to be racially profiled, detained, or deported. Speakers contended that this process has been used in the past leading to terrible results and may present a type of Sophie’s Choice to millions of immigrants living in the United States.

Speakers included the Executive Directors for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), Promise Arizona, and Make the Road States.  Each speaker addressed how the proposed mass immigrant “round up” scheme, which is meant to go into effect on April 11, 2025.

Angelica Salas, Executive Director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) stated: “There is a coordinated and relentless campaign to dehumanize, criminalize, and uproot immigrants from their communities and from the face of America.  The mass round up process is an extension of the Trump Administration’s fearmongering campaign targeting immigrants who have deep roots in their communities and who contribute to our nation’s strength and vitality.   This process is meant to punish, exclude, and tear families apart.   These anti-immigrant policies have been used in the past, leading to terrible results for entire entire communities.  America is a more welcoming, empathetic, and fair nation than this. Instead of cruelty and attacks on immigrants, we should be seeking fair, practical, and humane pathways to citizenship which would benefits millions of families, their communities, and the nation.”

Renata Bozzetto, Deputy Director for the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), stated:  "A government that can only offer people bad choices, is a failed government. This registration scam is a calculated attempt by the Trump Administration to tear apart loving families, rip parents from their children, and destroy lives built through years of hard work and sacrifice. This is government surveillance at its worst — a deliberate effort to criminalize millions of people who are part of the fabric of our communities. It forces our friends and neighbors into impossible choices, all designed to break their spirit and push them out of their homes, businesses, communities, and families, It’s an attack on dignity, long-held American values, and the very idea of justice."

Theo Oshiro, Co-Executive Director, Make the Road States, stated:  “At its heart, Trump's registration round up policy is deeply seated in a history of fear mongering, alienation, and persecution of the very people we call our neighbors, friends, and community.  To do right by the law, our people find themselves in a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario set up to classify and treat them as less than human.  This is not reflective of the government that recognizes the inherent dignity we all deserve and instead seeks to lead by fear.  Not only is this an attack on our communities, but this is also an attack on the fundamental principles of our democracy."

Lawrence Benito, Executive Director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) stated: “Immigrants are part of the fabric of our country and our state, and we reject the efforts by the Trump administration to tell us that we don’t belong here. Our families deserve dignity and respect, not separation and deportation. Alongside our allies across the country, we at ICIRR are committed to making sure our neighbors know their rights and are organized in the effort to push back against the Trump administration’s attempt to criminalize and surveil immigrants in the name of his mass deportation agenda.”

Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO of the New York Immigrant Coalition, stated:  “Trump has set up an impossible dilemma: You can be deported if you register, and you can be deported if you don’t. These are not choices. It’s cruelty weaponized to instill fear and criminalize our neighbors and separate families. Registration is not about public safety or national security–it is about targeting and punishing immigrant families who are simply seeking opportunity and safety for their families. This is a recipe to destabilize our communities and wreak havoc on our economy. We must be clear–this registry is a tool of surveillance and state-sanctioned discrimination. We will fight back against these racist and xenophobic policies, stand in solidarity with immigrant communities, and ensure that New York remains a place of safety, dignity, and opportunity in the face of Trump’s relentless attacks.”

 

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