The move, which could expose unregistered migrants to criminal prosecution, represents a drastic escalation of the administration’s efforts to push millions of immigrants to leave on their own.
Currently it is a civil failure to be in the US without papers. This makes it a criminal act to not voluntarily register on this list. Since almost no-one is going to voluntarily register (as it will be akin to loading yourself on a deportation flight immediately), it gives them way more leeway for detention and abuse by labelling them actual criminals.
If they don’t register, they are committing a crime. This bolsters his base by saying that the ones he deported were ones that had committed a crime, and not just any immigrants.
How can they be undocumented if they’re registered?
That’s not the point.
Currently it is a civil failure to be in the US without papers. This makes it a criminal act to not voluntarily register on this list. Since almost no-one is going to voluntarily register (as it will be akin to loading yourself on a deportation flight immediately), it gives them way more leeway for detention and abuse by labelling them actual criminals.
If they don’t register, they are committing a crime. This bolsters his base by saying that the ones he deported were ones that had committed a crime, and not just any immigrants.