What to know about the Alien Enemies Act of 1798
President Trump wants to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Here’s what you need to know about the wartime law.
WASHINGTON – Justice Department lawyers urged an appeals court Wednesday to overturn a judge’s block on President Donald Trump’s deportation of Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act.
The filing is the latest volley in an escalating legal battle over Trump’s priority of strengthening immigration enforcement. Trump has called for Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s impeachment for temporarily blocking the deportations. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked Trump over the impeachment threat.
Attorney General Pam Bondi led the argument at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Boasberg’s order as an “extraordinary intrusion” on the president’s authority. The government lawyers argued the president has the authority under the 1798 law to deport alleged members of the Venezuelan crime gang Tren de Aragua, which Trump designated as engaging in an “invasion” or “predatory incursion” into the U.S.
“There is no basis for a court to look behind those factual determinations,” the lawyers wrote.
Government lawyers also argued that Trump has sole discretion over foreign affairs, while revealing details about the deportations would be “catastrophic” to foreign relations.
“Indeed, the court’s order is already undermining the credibility with international partners in Central America with whom the President engaged in high-stakes diplomacy, and it threatens to jeopardize delicate foreign affairs negotiations with law enforcement partners,” the lawyers wrote.
Republican officials from 26 states support Trump use of Alien Enemies Act
A group of 26 states with Republican attorneys general led by South Carolina and Virginia filed an argument supporting the government’s “robust actions against gangs” that “are wreaking havoc within our borders.”
“Each State is directly impacted by criminal activity perpetuated by violent foreign gangs,” wrote the officials from states including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia. “And each State has an interest in protecting its citizens from such criminal activity.”
But lawyers for the Venezuelans from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Democracy Forward Foundation called the implications of using the Alien Enemies Act against a crime gang rather than a country “staggering.”
“If the President can designate any group as enemy aliens under the Act, and that designation is unreviewable, then there is no limit on who can be sent to a Salvadoran prison, or any limit on how long they will remain there,” the lawyers wrote in a filing Tuesday.
The appeals court is expected to rule this week on whether to overturn Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s order Saturday temporarily blocking deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.
What is the Alien Enemies Act?
Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act on Friday and that order went into effect on Saturday. The law hastens deportations without hearings for foreign citizens of a country at war with the United States or that has invaded the country.
Before Trump, the act had only been invoked three times, during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II. But Trump and his lawyers contend Tren de Aragua is invading the U.S. for purposes of crime and terrorism.
Trump called Tuesday for Boasberg’s impeachment. Roberts, the head of the Supreme Court, rebuked Trump for criticizing a judge rather than simply appealing his decision.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday the administration would respect judicial decisions but appeal adverse rulings to the Supreme Court, if necessary.
“The judges in this country are acting erroneously,” Leavitt said. “They are trying to clearly slow-walk this administration’s agenda and it’s unacceptable.”