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Rabat – President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 on Saturday to quickly detain and deport Venezuelan migrants suspected of being part of the Tren de Aragua gang, treating them as enemy threats to the US.
In his announcement, Trump claimed the gang was attempting to invade and harm the US, which met the legal requirement for using the centuries-old act.
Accordingly, in a sweeping move, he ordered Homeland Security and the justice department to arrest and remove any Venezuelan migrant, no matter if they are a non-US citizen or permanent resident, who is aged 14 or older.
Under this order, those targeted could be arrested and deported without the usual legal protections, such as the right to see a judge or apply for asylum. Instead, they would be treated as wartime enemies.
However, a federal judge, James Boasberg, quickly blocked the government from deporting anyone under Trump’s order, dealing a setback to the directive by issuing a 14-day restraining order against any Venezuelan deportations.
Boasberg’s decision came in response to a lawsuit filed on the same day by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Democracy Forward accusing Trump of unlawfully invoking the Alien Enemies Act.
The lawsuit argued that the act has only been invoked three times in US history, including World War I and World War II, and therefore this situation cannot apply.
This act “cannot be used here against nationals of a country with whom the United States is not at war, which is not invading the United States and which has not launched a predatory incursion into the United States,” the ACLU and Democracy Forward asserted.
“The government’s proclamation would allow agents to immediately put noncitizens on planes without any review of any aspect of the determination that they are alien enemies,” they added.
Larger US crackdown on migrants
However, in response the US justice department strongly criticized the court order, claiming that it ruled in favor of “Tren de Aragua terrorists over the safety of Americans.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi echoed the justice department’s sentiment, stating “This order disregards well-established authority regarding President Trump’s power, and it puts the public and law enforcement at risk.”
While the legal battle was still ongoing, the US deported 261 migrants to El Salvador over the weekend, including Venezuelans suspected of being linked to Tren de Aragua.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele shared a video showing some of the deportees under armed guard , having their heads shaved and being escorted into a prison.
A senior official said that 137 out of the 261 deportees sent to El Salvador were alleged gang members deported under the Alien Enemies Act before the court could bar the expulsions.
White House secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that the administration had violated the judge’s order that she deemed baseless. “The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist (Tren de Aragua) aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory,” she asserted.
An additional 101 Venezuelans were also expelled under standard immigration law during the same weekend.
These developments are in line with Trump’s recent escalations against migrants, usually under pretexts of “terrorism.” One of the most prominent cases which has made healdlines is that of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who is currently detained in the state of Louisiana for leading peaceful protests in Columbia University against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
