US President Donald Trump is reportedly poised to utilize the Alien Enemies Act, a federal law that not many are aware of, in order to hasten his bulk deportations of specific immigrant communities. CNN, quoting four sources close to the issue, indicated that this may be imminent.
The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 empowers the president to attack and deport illegal aliens. However, legal experts assert that whatever action were taken would be extremely likely to face strong court challenges.
During his presidential campaign, Trump signaled that he would invoke this law, and upon taking office, prioritized putting an end to illegal immigration. Newly released figures indicate that February 2025 had the highest number of immigrant arrests in the past seven years of the Trump presidency.
One of Trump’s greatest objectives is to target the Tren de Aragua (TDA), a Venezuelan transnational organized crime group that has expanded its operations into the US and other countries. Trump has instructed his administration to include TDA in the list of foreign terrorist organizations, a move that would facilitate the expulsion of members with affiliations to it.
The reports suggest that Trump can issue a statement regarding this program as early as Friday, pending approval of the details by officials.
Worth mentioning is that the Alien Enemies Act is normally raised during war or against an immediate threat posed by foreign countries. Legal analysts argue that it would be contentious to raise this law in its absence. The Act itself has been raised three times in US history, in times of war, according to the Brennan Center.
