American Oversight Sues for Records on Trump Policy Reviving WWII-Era Immigrant Registration Law

Thursday, American Oversight filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for failing to release records about the Trump administration’s sweeping directive requiring millions of noncitizens to register with the government under an obscure and discredited provision of the controversial 1940 Alien Registration Act.

“This administration’s revival of a discredited, 85-year-old wartime law isn’t just a policy decision, it’s a deliberate and dangerous attack on the rights of undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens alike,” said Chioma Chukwu, Executive Director of American Oversight. “Behind every form submitted and fingerprint taken is a loved one torn from their family, a neighborhood living in fear, and a fundamental promise of dignity and due process stripped away. The public deserves to know how this policy came to be — and just how far the Trump administration is willing to go in its campaign of fear, intimidation, and dehumanization.”

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, American Oversight’s lawsuit follows multiple unanswered Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests submitted by American Oversight seeking internal communications, directives, and legal guidance related to Executive Order 14159, signed by President Trump on his first day back in office. The order directed DHS to enforce the rarely used “Registration Provision,” which was once wielded to help facilitate the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Specifically, the watchdog group is seeking records from DHS, CBP, ICE, and USCIS that would shed light on how the Registration Provision is being implemented, the anticipated effects on immigrant communities, and whether it is being used as a pretext for mass detainment and deportations.

Despite DHS and USCIS claiming the policy is about improving public safety, civil rights advocates have called it a tool to instill fear and facilitate immigration raids. Since the rule took effect in April, DHS has launched a new registration form (G-325R) and begun requiring noncitizens to appear at Application Support Centers — locations where ICE officials can easily question, arrest, and detain individuals.

This lawsuit is part of American Oversight’s broader investigation into the Trump administration’s efforts to weaponize immigration enforcement. In recent weeks, the nonpartisan watchdog has sued for records of agreements deputizing local law enforcement officers to act as immigration agents, challenged the administration’s plans to deport immigrants to Guantánamo Bay, filed suit seeking records about the use of immigration enforcement to punish perceived opponents and protect allies, denounced the use of force against critics like Sen. Alex Padilla, and sued for documents detailing the government’s militarized response to immigration protests.