There will be strong penalties for those who break a law that requires illegal aliens in the U.S. to register with the government, former deputy DHS Secretary Ken Cuccinelli told Newsmax on Sunday.
“One thing that they're doing here is they're imposing a new consequence if illegals are here and are caught, who should have registered and didn't,” Cuccinelli said, adding that the law, which Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has promised to enforce, will become stronger as it is used more, and that illegal aliens could face criminal consequences “if folks are breaking more than one law, as most of them have already done by coming in here illegally.”
“They can go to prison for this before being deported. That's really the stick that the secretary is wielding here, and I think it will have some effect. I think it's an open question how much, but it doesn't cost her much in terms of manpower or resources to open up this new option and to create additional consequences,” Cuccinelli said.
“You're going to see an asylum clampdown on these folks” as the Trump administration moves on regulatory efforts since most of these people will not qualify for asylum.
“I mean, in the Western Hemisphere, what governments are to be actually feared? This isn't the Central America of the 1980s, probably Venezuela and Cuba, maybe Nicaragua, but that's really it. No one from anywhere else in this hemisphere really should have any sort of legitimate shot at getting asylum, and they know it,” Cuccinelli stated.
Noem, by enforcing this law and encouraging people to leave the U.S. voluntarily, is showing that they may have the incentive to come back legally.
“The president has just now taken birthright citizenship off the table. Then children who are born here, you know, five years ago, are U.S. citizens, whether we like that or not. But their parents aren't. So, you know, parents in that situation may really take seriously the ability to reenter the country legally by departing,” Cuccinelli said.
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