The Alien Enemies Act, established in 1798, enables the president to exercise wartime powers for the expulsion of undocumented migrants with minimal legal procedures. A notable example of such an exercise happened when Immigration and Customs Enforcement staged a raid in California in 2017. A more recent utilization of the 18th-century regulation by the Trump administration has resulted in enhanced deportation plans.
Over a single weekend, President Trump leveraged this longstanding wartime authority to expel a significant number of Venezuelan immigrants. This mass expulsion occurred despite a federal court judge’s directive to return any aircraft transporting these migrants to the United States. This is a vivid example of the law’s implementation, which has been a contentious part of immigration policy.
In an executive order issued on a Saturday, President Trump revealed plans to utilize the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 for the removal of Venezuelan migrants. Notably, these individuals were 14 years of age and older and had connections to a notorious gang, Tren de Aragua. On the authority of the 1798 act, the President has extensive powers to deport citizens of foreign nations, defined as ‘alien enemies’ in instances of belligerence or incursion.
However, the judicial move to thwart the use of such an obscure enactment for migrant deportation came through Judge James E. Boasberg of the Federal District Court in Washington. The judge issued an order that lasted through the night, aiming to block the administration from employing the Alien Enemies Act for the expulsion of the migrants. The order also required the redirection of the aircraft transporting the migrants.
In defiance of this directive, the administration deported 238 migrants, rerouting them to El Salvador. Met with a year in a high-security prison, these migrants faced dire circumstances as a result of the administration’s decision to enforce the controversial rule of law.
This tug of war for power between the administration and the judicial courts edge closer to a constitutional crisis. The central point of contention is whether or not the judiciary has the power to bar the president from leveraging this law to speed up the deportation procedures. A definitive answer to this will have far-reaching implications on the structure of power.
Contrary to its original intention, the usage of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 has evolved to facilitate the summary deportation of individuals originating from nations which are at odds with the United States, or those that have attempted to intrude on U.S. soil. This regulatory modification initiates an engaging dialogue on its implications regarding international law and relations.
The precedent for the usage of this act was set early in President Trump’s administration. One of his first actions upon assuming office was to sign an executive order that effectively classified illicit entries at the U.S.-Mexico border as an invasion. This marked the beginning of a new era in immigration policy and set the stage for future and sustained usage of the 1798 law.