Illegal aliens in US urged to register

WASHINGTON – The US government has urged illegal aliens including an estimated 300,000 Filipinos to register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and argue their case for staying in the country in front of an immigration judge.

"It goes from becoming an administrative or civil offense to overstay a visa to a criminal offense if they fail to register," Kris Kobach, a Justice Department official told a news conference on Thursday.

"And that’s a very important distinction, and it’s something that people who are here illegally should take note of. If they don’t respond to the call to come in and register, they will have committed a crime under the Immigration and Nationality Act. And that will prejudice them in the future."

The INS estimates that there are about six million illegal aliens living in the United States, a number which increases by more than 200,000 per year.

The INS also said 60 percent of the illegal residents sneaked across the border and the remaining 40 percent entered legally but overstayed their visas.

Asked what incentive overstayers have in registering knowing that they would be arrested and deported, Kobach said it is always better not to elevate an offense from a merely administrative violation to a criminal violation.

Also, illegal aliens can argue their case in front of an immigration judge.

Say, for example, they’d like to seek a change of status or they have already filed for a change of status, an immigration judge can determine whether their application can be granted or not, Kobach explained.

But he clarified that the mere fact that they come forward doesn’t remove any of the due process and any of the administrative hearings that they would otherwise get.

According to Kobach, the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), which enables authorities to track their whereabouts, had so far registered only over 54,000 visitors from 148 countries.

"We anticipate that by year’s end, the first year of the program, it’ll be around 150,000 individuals," he said.

Noting that about 35 million people visit the United States annually, he said, "statistically, the chances of your having to be registered are not that great."

He emphasized that anyone, from any country, can be registered, but it does not necessarily apply to every tourist who visits the United States.

After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack against the United States, registration was initially confined to men from 20 mainly Muslim countries to monitor their entry and exit. Such monitoring allows those individuals to be photographed and fingerprinted.

But Kobach said NSEERS was not limited to any one country. INS officers can require any visitor to register in the system.

"There is no distinction in those criteria that would exclude any one country or that would necessarily include any one country," he said, explaining why the initial group of 54,000 individuals registered came from 148 countries.