The Resurgence of the Alien Enemies Act
What’s Happening?
On March 15, 2025, President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
The order could let the administration deport any migrant it identifies as a member of the gang without going through regular immigration proceedings, and could also remove other protections under criminal law for people the government targeted.
Trump’s proclamation was immediately blocked by U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, but lawyers said two planes with immigrants were already in the air. Boasberg then verbally ordered the planes be turned around, but the flights continued, deporting nearly 250 Venezuelans to El Salvador.
What is the Alien Enemies Act?
In 1798, with the U.S. preparing for what it believed would be a war with France, Congress passed a series of laws that increased the federal government’s reach. This Act was created to give the president wide powers to imprison and deport noncitizens in time of war.
Since then, the act has been used just three times: during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.
The 1798 law gives the president sweeping authority for the summary deportation of people from countries at war with the United States, or which have invaded the United States or engaged in “predatory incursion.”
Is the U.S. at War?
For years, Trump and his allies have argued that the U.S. is facing an “invasion” of people arriving in the country illegally.
In his Saturday declaration, Trump said the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, “is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion” against U.S. territory, going further on Sunday to say “This is a time of war.”
“The Alien Enemies Act may be used only during declared wars or armed attacks on the United States by foreign governments,” The Brennan Center for Justice said in a Saturday statement. “The president has falsely proclaimed an invasion and predatory incursion to use a law written for wartime for peacetime immigration enforcement.”
The Dangers
The law would empower the Trump administration to arrest and remove migrants without providing court hearings or asylum screenings.
Legal experts have said the wartime law requires an established link to the actions of a foreign government, making it unclear how successful the administration will be in using it to deport immigrants and those suspected of being drug cartel members.
"The Trump administration is seeking to circumvent the process that we have in our country in order to just expand power and do something with no process at all" - Democracy Forward
Resources
If you believe your rights have been violated or fear for your immigration status, please contact your local CAIR office. CAIR’s legal department provides high-quality, free civil rights and immigration services to students.
Visit ca.cair.com/legal-services/immigrants-rights/ to request an appointment with a member of the legal team.
