Federal law enforcement officials are using a long-dormant law to detain immigrants and charge them with willfully failing to register with the government.

Under the Alien Registration Act, passed in 1940 because of fears about immigrants’ loyalty to the United States, almost all noncitizens must register with the government and submit fingerprints, reports Politico on Saturday.

The law has remained on the books since that time, but has remained dormant until President Donald Trump issued orders to enforce the law. As a result, since April, people have been arrested in Louisiana; Arizona; Montana; Alabama; Texas; and Washington, D.C., and charged with willful “failure to register” under the federal registration law.

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