AUSTIN – The Justice Department charged a migrant man in a West Texas federal court for failing to register his undocumented status with the federal government. The charge comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January requiring migrants to register based on a rarely used provision from a 1952 law. The executive order directed the Homeland Security secretary to “announce and publicize information about the legal obligation of all previously unregistered aliens in the United States to comply.” The Texas case follows one of an Arizona man charged earlier this month for failing to register. The Justice Department charged Hugo Moreno-Mendez with two misdemeanors. One was for refusing to provide DNA and the other was for willful failure to register. The second charge confused Moreno-Mendez’s attorney. Breaking News Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond. SIGN UP Or with: Google Facebook By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy “This is not a charge I’ve ever seen before,” said Lauren McLeod, who has practiced law for 17 years, the last eight as a criminal defense attorney in Waco. Advertisement Moreno-Mendez is accused of illegally entering the United States more than two decades ago and failing to register with the federal government. It’s unclear if his case is related to Trump’s executive order. In February, Department of Homeland Security officials announced they would create a registry for people who were in the U.S. illegally. DHS set a deadline of April 11 for people to comply with the new rule. Anyone who did not register with the federal government could be criminally prosecuted or fined. Moreno-Mendez reported to the McLennan County Probation Department on March 13 according to court records, and was arrested that day. Moreno-Mendez was on a 12-month probation after a September conviction on unlawfully installing a tracking device, local court records show. Advertisement Justice Department officials noted in court filings that he entered the country illegally in 2004 “and willfully failed or refused to make such application or to be fingerprinted after thirty days.” Failing to register is punishable by up to six months in prison. Advertisement Officials with the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, where his case is pending, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday afternoon. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for DHS, said failing to comply with registering is a crime. The agency does not comment on specific cases, she said. “The Trump administration will enforce all our immigration laws — we will not pick and choose which laws we will enforce,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “We must know who is in our country for the safety and security of our homeland and all Americans.” Advertisement The criminal prosecution appears to follow through on the initiative DHS announced in February that requires all undocumented migrants older than 14 in the United States to register. That process includes providing their fingerprints and address, and parents or guardians of people younger than 14 years old would have to make sure the child registers with the government. In the Arizona case, the Justice Department charged Eduardo Prado Flores on April 17 with failing to register with the federal government. However, that case was dismissed on Monday, court records show, but it’s unclear why.