Alabama uses Japanese American Internment era law to charge immigrants who don't self-register

[AZProgressive]

Alabama is finding new ways to criminally charge undocumented immigrants. Federal courts in the state are using a law last applied during the U.S. internment of people of Japanese descent during World War II to charge immigrants who don’t register themselves.

“The Trump administration is attempting to effectively criminalize unlawful presence in the United States,” said immigration attorney Danny Upton, “to facilitate (immigrants) own eventual removal.”

The Trump Administration reinterpreted the law in 2025 and a handful of states have started pursuing charges.

(snip)

In 2025, 27 people were charged with Failure to Register under the Alien Immigration Act in Alabama, and 13 were charged with failure to notify of change of address. Public records in Alabama don’t reflect what events led up to these people being criminally charged for not registering, but court documents do show traces of their paths from Alabama to detention facilities, mostly in Louisiana.

https://www.al.com/news/2026/01/alabama-uses-japanese-internment-era-law-to-charge-immigrants-who-dont-self-register.html

[Rhiannon12866]

1. Good Grief!