Immigration officials are reactivating a dormant registration requirement for non-citizens in the United States, a move drawing comparisons to past efforts that combined national security with sweeping data collection.
Starting as soon as April 11th, non-citizens who remain in the U.S. for 30 days or more will be required to register online or in person and submit fingerprints before the 30-day period ends. Parents and legal guardians must register children under age 14. Those who refuse to register or provide biometric data could face fines of up to $5,000, imprisonment, or both.
The requirements stem from the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, also known as the McCarran-Walter Act. The update introduces a digital registration portal at my.uscis.gov, along with new enforcement tools tied to biometric data.
According to the agency, the new push is expected to register roughly between two and three million people. Officials say the collected biometric data will help identify individuals with criminal histories or potential national security concerns.
Immigration experts are drawing comparisons with other registration drives.
“We’ve had two major registration drives in the past,” said Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute. “The first was in 1940, as the U.S. prepared for World War II. The government sought to identify non-citizens who might be eligible to serve in the military. There was both a carrot and a stick: the possibility of naturalization—but also the risk of deportation for failing to register.”
That effort registered 5.6 million non-citizens and led to the naturalization of more than 110,000 non-citizen service members between 1942 and 1945, Chishti said.
A second registration push came in the wake of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. The Bush administration implemented Special Registration, a program that targeted individuals from 25 countries—24 of them majority-Muslim, along with North Korea.
Roughly 83,000 people registered, Chishti said. Only 11 were found to have links to terrorism. Nearly 14,000 registrants were placed in deportation proceedings.
Chishti notes key differences this time around: “This new registration effort is broader. It’s not based on nationality or war powers. And unlike in 1940, there’s no clear benefit for participating."
Critics say the program could create a chilling effect.
“People may feel like they’re turning themselves in,” Chishti said. “Without a clear benefit, fear of enforcement may deter people from registering at all.”
USCIS says the initiative is part of a broader effort to implement an executive order originally issued under President Donald Trump.
On Jan. 20, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, which directed the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that aliens comply with their duty to register with the government under section 262 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) (8 U.S.C. 1302), and ensure that failure to comply with the registration requirement is treated as a civil and criminal enforcement priority.
Immigrant advocates are watching closely. Local immigration attorneys declined to comment on the record. One noted that the form could be challenged in court. If so, there is the possibility that it would not take effect on April 11, or at all.
