Trump’s usage of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 sparks outrage

On Tuesday, Nikkei Progressives, a grassroots community organization, held a press conference outside the Japanese American National Museum in downtown L.A.’s Little Tokyo, to condemn President Donald Trump for invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (AEA) to deport Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador. This action reminded the Japanese American community and others of a troubling chapter in U.S. history when the law was last used during World War II, which marked the beginning of the arrest and incarceration of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry. In 1988, Japanese Americans received an apology from President Ronald Reagan for this significant injustice.  

Speakers from various organizations shared a standard message: Trump's latest actions are an attack on all marginalized communities. “We’ve seen the recent erasure of our community’s stories from government websites and documents, such as the National Archives, the U.S. Army, and Arlington National Cemetery. We are also witnessing the complete dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, literally turning the clock back at least by several decades,” reads the statement by Nikkei Progressives. 

The origins of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798

To understand how the Trump administration can get away with deporting hundreds of Venezuelans to the Terrorist Confinement Center in El Salvador, known for violating human rights, we have to understand the root of the law. 

During the late 1700s, there was a possibility that the U.S. would go to war with France. Since Congress is the only body of government that can declare war, after Congress adjourned, it would take them a long time to reconvene and decide whether to go to war. This was when there were no cars, airplanes or a robust train system for transportation that we are accustomed to in today's world. Therefore, then-President John Adams passed the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 amid the potential threat of war with France, giving the president full authority to invoke the Act to imprison and deport non-citizens during times of war or invasion. The law was part of the Four Alien and Sedition Acts and was used only three times in U.S. history. 

Trump is using the term "invasion” and claiming that Venezuelans are “unlawfully infiltrating” the country. Under the pretense that the U.S. is at war with Venezuela, he is justifying the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans without allowing them the opportunity to have their cases heard by an immigration judge. 

The last time the U.S. applied this law was in 1941 against Japan, due to Japan's attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i, on December 7, 1941. This prompted the U.S. entry into World War II and enabled Franklin D. Roosevelt to utilize the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, since the country was at war. 

It was during Trump’s first term that he oversaw the failed efforts to topple Venezuela’s government when two U.S. Green Berets were captured while attempting to invade Venezuela in “Operation Gideon," a Cuba Bay of Pigs-type operation. In addition, it was Trump who anointed Juan Guaido as the “Interim President of Venezuela” without Venezuelans democratically electing Juan as their president. 

The Venezuelan government has not attempted to overthrow the U.S. government or undermine our democratic processes, nor have they declared that they are at war with the U.S. 

The movement to repeal the Alien Enemies Act

Two days after Trump's inauguration, U.S. Congressional Representative Ilhan Omar from Minnesota reintroduced the Neighbors Not Enemies Act alongside U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono. “The AEA is the only remaining law from this deeply problematic set of statues that targeted immigrants under the guise of national security. While the other three acts have expired or been repealed, the AEA remains in effect, granting sweeping powers to the president to detain or deport foreign nationals from a specific country,” reads Rep Omar and Mazie’s press release. 

Organizers are calling on Congress to act and pass the Neighbors Not Enemies Act because it would fully repeal the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and put a stop to Trump’s attacks on immigrant communities. 

“We do not stand with his (Trump) actions. We stand in solidarity with the millions of migrant families, undocumented and documented. We want to see an end to immigrant incarceration and an end to family separation,” said Lizbeth Abeln, an organizer with Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice.