President Trump is planning to activate a wartime statute known as the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as soon as Friday, aiming to authorize the swift deportation of certain migrants, potentially to Guantanamo Bay. This move is part of his broader immigration enforcement strategy, as reported by several U.S. officials who are familiar with the plans and spoke to CBS News.
This 227-year-old legislation grants presidents the remarkable authority to order the arrest, detention, and deportation of noncitizens aged 14 and over from nations considered to be staging an “invasion or predatory incursion” into the United States.
Sources indicate that Mr. Trump intends to use the 18th-century law to facilitate the rapid detention and deportation of suspected affiliates of the Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang with roots in prison culture that his administration has classified as a foreign terrorist organization. These sources requested anonymity to discuss confidential internal matters.
Officials are reportedly preparing to transport these suspected gang members to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, shortly after Mr. Trump invokes the Alien Enemies Act. According to two U.S. officials, under Mr. Trump’s directive, some migrants awaiting deportation have already been held at the naval base, although the holding facilities had been vacated earlier this week.
Individuals affected by the Alien Enemies Act would not be entitled to a court hearing or an asylum interview, as they would be processed under an emergency wartime authority rather than standard immigration law. Consequently, they could face detention and deportation with minimal to no due process under Title 50 of the U.S. code, which includes America’s war and defense laws.
UJ initially reported Mr. Trump’s intention to invoke this law as early as Friday.
The Alien Enemies Act has been utilized on only a few occasions in U.S. history, notably during World War II, when the government monitored and detained Italian, German, and Japanese immigrants.
Utilizing this law to target migrants from countries with which the U.S. is not currently at war is likely to encounter legal challenges.
Mr. Trump foreshadowed his plan to invoke the Alien Enemies Act in an executive order issued on his first day back at the White House. This directive instructed the secretaries of state and homeland security to strategize for the potential implementation of the law and prepare necessary facilities for the expedited removal of individuals affected.
“By invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, I will direct our government to wield the full and extensive power of federal and state law enforcement to eradicate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks that are inflicting severe crime upon U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities,” Mr. Trump stated in his inaugural address.
CBS News has reached out to representatives from the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
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