The Alien Enemies Act: What to know about a 1798 law that Trump has invoked for deportations

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The Alien Enemies Act: What to know about a 1798 law that Trump has invoked for deportations

2025-03-16 08:36 Last Updated At：08:51

President Donald Trump on Saturday invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II, granting himself sweeping powers under a centuries-old law to deport people associated with a Venezuelan gang. Hours later, a federal judge halted deportations under Trump's order.

The act is a sweeping wartime authority that allows non-citizens to be deported without being given the opportunity to go before an immigration or federal court judge.

Trump repeatedly hinted during his campaign that he would declare extraordinary powers to confront illegal immigration and laid additional groundwork in a slew of executive orders on Jan. 20.

His proclamation on Saturday identified Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang as an invading force. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, blocked anyone from being deported under Trump's proclamation for two weeks and scheduled a Friday hearing to consider arguments.

In 1798, with the U.S. preparing for what it believed would be a war with France, Congress passed a series of laws that increased the federal government's reach. Worried that immigrants could sympathize with the French, the Alien Enemies Act was created to give the president wide powers to imprison and deport non-citizens in time of war.

Since then, the act has been used just three times: during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.

During World War II, with anti-foreigner fears sweeping the country, it was part of the legal rationale for mass internment in the U.S. of people of German, Italian and especially Japanese ancestry. An estimated 120,000 people with Japanese heritage, including those with U.S. citizenship, were incarcerated during the war.

The American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward preemptively sued Trump late Friday in federal court in Washington, D.C., saying five Venezuelan men being held at an immigration detention center in Raymondville, Texas, were at “imminent risk of removal” under the Alien Enemies Act. Boasberg blocked their deportation, prompting an immediate appeal from the Justice Department.

Almost simultaneously, the Trump administration agreed to pay El Salvador $6 million to imprison about 300 alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang for one year.

The agreement with El Salvador followed discussions between that country’s president, Nayib Bukele, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio about housing migrants in El Salvador’s notorious prisons. Bukele’s government has arrested more than 84,000 people, sometimes without due process, since 2022 in a crackdown on gang violence.

ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said two flights Saturday may have carried people deported under Trump's proclamation, one to El Salvador and one possibly to Honduras. Boasberg said any such flights would have to be returned midair to the United States.

For years, Trump and his allies have argued that America is facing an “invasion” of people arriving illegally. Arrests on the U.S. border with Mexico topped 2 million a year for two straight years for the first time under President Joe Biden, with many released into the U.S. to pursue asylum. After hitting an all-time monthly high of 250,000 in December 2023, they plunged to less than 8,400 this February — the lowest levels since the 1960s.

The act, Trump said in his inaugural address, would be a key tool in his immigration crackdown.

“By invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil,” he said. “As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions.”

Critics say Trump is wrongly using the act to target non-state actors, not foreign governments.

“Invoking it in peacetime to bypass conventional immigration law would be a staggering abuse,” the Brennan Center for Justice wrote, calling it “at odds with centuries of legislative, presidential, and judicial practice.”

“Summary detentions and deportations under the law conflict with contemporary understandings of equal protection and due process,” the Brennan Center said.

It's a new and untested argument. Trump has warned of the power of Latin American criminal gangs in the U.S., but only a tiny percentage of the people living illegally in the U.S. are criminals.

Trump, in his wartime declaration on Saturday, said Tren de Aragua “is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion of predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.” He said the gang was engaged in “irregular warfare” against the United States at the direction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Tren de Aragua originated in an infamously lawless prison in the central state of Aragua and accompanied an exodus of millions of Venezuelans, the overwhelming majority of whom were seeking better living conditions after their nation’s economy came undone last decade.

Last month, the Trump administration designated Tren de Aragua and seven other Latin American crime organizations as “foreign terrorist organizations,” upping pressure on cartels operating in the U.S. and on anyone aiding them.

Congress’ research arm said in a report last month officials may use the foreign terrorist designations to argue the gang's activities in the U.S. amount to a limited invasion. “This theory appears to be unprecedented and has not been subject to judicial review,” the Congressional Research Service said.

The Venezuelan government has not typically taken its people back from the U.S., except on a few occasions. Over the past few weeks, about 350 people were deported to Venezuela, including some 180 who spent up to 16 days at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

A look at some of the worst fires at nightclubs and music venues

2025-03-16 20:35 Last Updated At：20:41

A fire at a nightclub in the town of Kocani in North Macedonia has killed 59 people and injured more than 150 others, according to authorities. Here is a look at some other nightclub and music venue fires that have led to significant death tolls:

— April 2024: A blaze at the Masquerade nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, trapped workers and employees while the venue was closed for renovations, leaving 29 people dead. It was located on the ground and basement floors of a 16-story residential building.

— October 2023: A fire that started at a nightclub in the southeastern Spanish city of Murcia and spread to two other clubs left 13 people dead.

— January 2022: A nightclub in Sorong, in Indonesia's West Papua province, burned after two groups attacked each other inside the building. Nineteen people were killed.

— January 2022: A blaze at Liv’s Nightclub Yaouba in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, set off explosions that killed 17 people. The government suggested that fireworks set the roof alight and the fire then spread to areas where cooking gas was stored.

— December 2016: Thirty-six people died in a fire at a warehouse in Oakland, California that had been converted into a residence and event space for artists dubbed the “Ghost Ship.” The blaze, which broke out during an electronic music and dance party, moved so quickly that victims were trapped on the illegally constructed second floor.

— October 2015: A blaze that broke out during a rock band's pyrotechnics display at the Colectiv nightclub in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, killed 64 people and left some 190 injured.

— January 2013: A fire killed more than 200 people at the Kiss nightclub in the city of Santa Maria in southern Brazil. Investigators said soundproofing foam on the ceiling caught fire and released poisonous gases that quickly killed those attending a university party.

— December 2009: Some 152 people died when a blaze broke out at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, Russia. It started when an indoor fireworks display ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches.

— January 2009: An indoor fireworks display after a New Year’s countdown ignited a blaze in the Santika club in Bangkok, Thailand, killing 67 people and injuring many more. Victims died from burns, smoke inhalation, and from being crushed.

— September 2008: A fire killed 44 people at the jammed King of Dancers nightclub in Shenzhen, China when a stamped broke out after a fireworks show ignited the ceiling.

— December 2004: In Buenos Aires, Argentina, a fire killed 194 people at the crowded Cromagnon Republic club after a flare ignited ceiling foam. Club owner Omar Chaban was sentenced to 20 years in prison for causing the deadly fire and for bribery. Others received lighter sentences.

— February 2003: A fire at the Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, in the United States, killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others. Fireworks being used by the band set fire to flammable foam inside the club.

— December 2000: A fire that was blamed on a welding accident killed 309 people at a disco in the central Chinese city of Luoyang.

— October 1998: An arson attack against an overcrowded youth disco in the Swedish city Goteborg killed 63 people and left around 200 injured. Four people were later convicted for starting the fire.

— March 1996: A fire at the Ozone Disco Pub in Quezon City, Philippines, killed 162 people. A large proportion of the victims were students partying to mark the end of the academic year.

— March 1990: An arson attack at the Happy Land nightclub in the Bronx borough of New York City killed 87 people. It started when a man angry with his girlfriend threw gasoline on the club’s only exit and set it on fire, then jammed down the metal front gate so people were trapped.

— December 1983: A fire at the Alcala dance hall in Madrid, Spain, left 78 people dead and more than 20 injured.

— May 1977: A fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky, killed 165 people and injured more than 200.

— November 1942: The deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history killed 492 people at Boston’s Cocoanut Grove club. The fire at what had been one of Boston’s foremost nightspots led to new requirements for sprinkler systems and accessible exits.

— April 1940: A fire ignited the decorative Spanish moss draping the ceiling of the Rhythm Night Club in Natchez, Mississippi, killing 209 people. The windows had been boarded up to prevent people from sneaking in.