Trump Plans to Use 18th-Century “Alien Enemies Act” for Mass Deportations

From the decimation of reproductive rights to pardons for people convicted of participating in the 2021 attack on the Capitol, there are many, many reasons to fear Donald Trump winning another term in office. Extremely high up on that list? His vow to “carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” which he apparently plans to do by invoking an 18th-century law previously used during times of war.

Axios reports that the former president has been detailing the mechanism through which he would deport millions of people: the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which was signed by John Adams and allows the government to detain and remove immigrants when there is “a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government.” The act, as the outlet notes, has been invoked just three times—during the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II—and can also be used if “any invasion or predatory incursion is perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States by any foreign nation or government.”

During a campaign stop in Aurora, Colorado, last week, Trump said he intends to use the 226-year-old law to target “every illegal migrant criminal network operating on American soil.” While it cannot be used against American citizens, the US-born children of immigrants—including those who came to this country legally—could still wind up detained. Katherine Yon Ebright, counsel at the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program, told Axios the Alien Enemies Act is an archaic law that could be used to infringe on people’s constitutional rights—which might explain why Trump is a fan. In a statement, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary told the outlet that the ex-president will indeed oversee mass deportations in a second term, adding that he plans to use mechanisms like the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to do so.

During his first term in office, Trump not only went after undocumented immigrants, but also significantly cracked down on legal immigration. Last March, he said he would order mass deportations on “day one” in the White House, noting that his administration would “start with the bad ones.”

During the vice presidential debate in October, JD Vance was asked twice if he and Trump would “deport parents who have entered the US illegally and separate them from any of their children who were born on US soil,” with the candidate declining both opportunities to respond with a resounding “no.” Trump has also said he would deport Haitian migrants living legally in Springfield, Ohio.

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