Deported Without Trial: How Trump’s Use of the Alien Enemies Act is Bypassing Due Process
With a centuries-old law and executive orders, the Trump administration is secretly deporting alleged gang members to El Salvador—ignoring a federal court order in the process.
The Alien Enemies Act of 1798, part of the broader Alien and Sedition Acts, was originally enacted during a time of heightened tensions to protect national security1.
Historically, it has been used in wartime to detain or deport nationals from enemy countries, such as during World War I and II when the U.S. government targeted German, Japanese, and Italian nationals2.
However, President Trump’s recent executive order is applying this act in a peacetime context, claiming that a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, represents an “invasion” of the U.S. As a result, hundreds of individuals have been deported without trial to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT)—a prison infamous for its inhumane conditions.
The Trump administration’s legal justification is unprecedented, and a U.S. District Court issued an emergency order to stop the deportations—yet the administration claims they did not defy the court when they carried out the deportations anyway.
The Alien Enemies Act: A Law from the 18th Century in the 21st Century
Enacted on July 6, 1798, the Alien Enemies Act was designed to allow the president to detain or deport foreign nationals from hostile nations in times of war or invasion3.
Key historical uses:
War of 1812: Targeted British nationals.
World War I: Applied to German and Austro-Hungarian nationals.
World War II: Led to internment of Japanese, German, and Italian Americans.
The law has been largely dormant for decades, as its use typically required a formal war declaration from Congress. Trump’s executive order bypasses this requirement, applying it to individuals not linked to any formal enemy nation but instead to alleged members of a transnational criminal organization4.
What happens when the President decides to ignore the courts?
A federal judge told Trump’s administration to turn the planes around. They didn’t. And the legal justification they’re using? They won’t even fully explain it to the judge.
So what exactly is happening? And who else might be targeted next?
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