The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to implement the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 within the next few days, according to two sources familiar with White House discussions, which would allow the government to utilize wartime powers for accelerating the removal of illegal immigrants, the NY Post reports.
During his campaign, President Trump had pledged to invoke the long-standing law to expel illegal migrants from countries considered “enemy nations” if they are seen as a danger to the U.S., without needing a ruling from an immigration judge.
The Post reports that sources indicate that the official move will likely occur “by the end of this week,” confirming an earlier CNN report. The targeted group includes members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, who are believed to have brutally murdered Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray.
John Sandweg, former acting director of ICE, explained to The NY Post that the Trump administration has the ability to “skip over the immigration courts” in order to expedite deportations, especially in light of the more than 3 million cases currently waiting to be processed.
The current delays are primarily due to the fact that the estimated 10 million illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. cannot be deported without a formal hearing before an immigration judge and a final removal ruling.
Sandweg, who served under the Obama administration, added, “The Administration believes that invocation of the Alien Enemies Act will provide ICE with the authority to administratively deport certain migrants without first having to go through the immigration court process.”
However, this legal strategy may face challenges as lawyers argue that the Alien Enemies Act should only be applied in times of war, and they also claim it would violate constitutional due process rights.
The Trump administration has already been active in deporting illegal migrants, with 32,000 arrests made in a span of 50 days, putting a strain on ICE detention facilities across the U.S.
The Alien Enemies Act was last enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Speaking in Aurora, Colorado, in October, a city deeply affected by the presence of TdA, Trump referred to the gang members as “stone cold killers.”
At his rally, he declared, “I will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798,” to specifically target and dismantle criminal organizations operating within the United States.
Sandweg noted that the administration’s order could potentially focus on specific groups, such as members of Tren de Aragua or other international gangs, though he cautioned that such a move “won’t solve the larger issue of the immigration court backlogs.”
In addition to the deportation efforts, President Trump has also expressed his desire to impose a 10-year prison sentence for individuals who re-enter the U.S. after being deported and the death penalty for illegal immigrants involved in the murder of U.S. citizens.
The FBI has also stepped up its efforts to combat gang violence across the nation, focusing on individuals connected to the transfer of funds to Nicolás Maduro’s Venezuelan regime, including members of TdA. In the past two weeks, the FBI’s newly formed inter-agency taskforce apprehended 214 illegal migrants and gang members in Virginia.
{Matzav.com}
Want a small district Court challenges the federal government in following the orders of the chief executive to fight foreign enemies and carry out his executive duties that he was elected to do by the majority of the country it’s a problem.
It means that some small Court somewhere can stop a president from conducting a war in defense of this country.
So if you want to position troops somewhere a tiny little Court in California or New York should not be able to interfere with the president’s job of taking care of threats from enemies.
If Trump doesn’t win on this case it sets up for a very dangerous legal precedent.
P. T. just passed a EO to ignore any lower court rulings in favor of settling this in higher courts. While I agree with that strategy ( needs to be ruled upon by the SC), we do need to keep in mind when the shoe was on the other foot Judges stopped some of the worst action coming from the “O” and “B” administrations.
“The Alien Enemies Act was last enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.”
Yes it it severely affected CITIZENS of the USA of Japanese decent.
Amazing how a Law from 1798, widely condemned back then, is held in reserve, just so when .gov wants it, they can strip you of all rights and throw you in a prison camp, or worse.
And the precedent is set by the Obama administration which used the Logan Act (of 1799, and which has never been successfully used in court in all that time) as their fake excuse to spy on then-President-Elect Trump (and even after Trump took office) officials.