Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan gang members

President Donald Trump invoked the rarely used Alien Enemies Act of 1798 on Friday, declaring members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) subject to “immediate apprehension, detention, and removal” from the United States. The move immediately triggered legal challenges, with a federal judge issuing a temporary restraining order hours after the proclamation.

The presidential proclamation labels TdA as a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization that is “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.” It claims the gang operates in conjunction with Venezuela’s Maduro regime and engages in “mass illegal migration” aimed at harming U.S. citizens.

Civil liberties groups swiftly condemned the action. By Friday afternoon, the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward had filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the proclamation, resulting in a temporary court order protecting plaintiffs in the case from removal for 14 days.

“The Trump administration’s intent to use a wartime authority for immigration enforcement is as unprecedented as it is lawless,” said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, in a statement. “The United States is not at war, nor has it been invaded.”

A Wartime Power in Peacetime?

The Alien Enemies Act, which dates to 1798, has been invoked only three times in U.S. history — during the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II — according to legal experts. The law permits the president to detain or deport citizens of an enemy nation during declared war or when facing invasion.

The Brennan Center for Justice, which published an analysis of the law in October 2024, noted that the act “can be — and has been — wielded against immigrants who have done nothing wrong, have evinced no signs of disloyalty, and are lawfully present in the United States.”

Legal experts question whether Trump’s interpretation stretches the law beyond its intended purpose. The Brennan Center’s analysis states that “the Alien Enemies Act is a wartime authority enacted and implemented under the war power,” and that using it to address immigration issues “would be a staggering abuse.”

Court Challenge Underway

Chief Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia scheduled two hearings related to the case: a remote session on Saturday to consider broadening the temporary restraining order and an in-person hearing Monday on the lawsuit’s merits.

The legal challenge, filed as J.G.G. v. Trump, argues that the president’s use of the act is unlawful because the United States is not in a state of war with Venezuela. Critics contend the administration is attempting to bypass normal immigration procedures by invoking wartime powers.

The proclamation could potentially affect thousands of Venezuelan nationals in the United States, specifically targeting those alleged to be members of TdA. It exempts naturalized citizens and lawful permanent residents.

The case represents the latest clash between the Trump administration’s immigration policies and civil liberties organizations, which have repeatedly challenged the president’s approach to immigration enforcement since he took office in January.