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A little-known federal law with serious consequences requires almost all male migrant residents in the United States, including the undocumented, to register with the Selective Service upon turning 18, under penalty of up to five years in prison and fines of up to 250,000 dollars, emphasized The Latin Times.
The requirement is not new, but it is receiving renewed attention due to the imminent implementation of the automatic registration mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, signed by President Trump on December 18, 2025.
According to the Selective Service, the obligation applies to legal permanent residents, refugees, asylum seekers, parole beneficiaries, and undocumented immigrants between the ages of 18 and 25.
The only relevant exemption applies to men who are in the country with a valid non-immigrant visa, such as tourists, students, or diplomats.
The registration must be completed within 30 days following the 18th birthday, or within 30 days of entering the country if the migrant is between 18 and 25 years old at the time of entry.
The Selective Service is explicit about the consequences: failing to register constitutes a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000.
The consequences go beyond legal exposure.
The Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) may deny a naturalization application when the applicant refused to register or deliberately failed to do so when required, as it is considered lacking the requirement of "good moral character."
Anyone who did not register before the age of 26 may experience delays in their citizenship process for years, and those who cannot demonstrate that the failure to register was involuntary face the risk of being considered lacking the "attachment to the Constitution" required to obtain citizenship.
Failure to comply may also result in loss of federal student aid, ineligibility for federal jobs, and exclusion from job training programs.
It is important to clarify that registering for Selective Service does not mean being drafted: The United States has not had active mandatory military service since 1973, and registration only creates a database for potential future recruitment in the event of a national emergency.
For the Cuban and Latin American community, the alert is particularly urgent given the high number of young people who have arrived in recent years through means such as humanitarian parole, irregular entry, or the program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.
The Selective Service plans to implement automatic registration in December 2026, which means the government will have greater ability to identify those who are not registered, but the legal obligation and its penalties are already in effect from now.
"A requirement that many families may have never heard of can follow a young person for years."
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