Trump invokes 18th century Alien Enemies Act to declare invasion ofTren de Aragua, speed deportations

Claiming the United States was being invaded by a Venezuelan gang, President Donald Trump on Saturday invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a sweeping wartime authority that allows the president broader leeway on policy and executive action to speed up mass deportations of people — potentially pushing his promised crackdown on immigration into higher gear.Trump’s declaration targets Tren de Aragua, contending it is a hostile force acting at the behest of Venezuela’s government.The declaration comes the same day that a federal judge in Washington barred the administration from deporting five Venezuelans under the expected order, a hint at the legal battle brewing over Trump’s move.

The judge was scheduled to consider expanding the prohibition on deportation just minutes after Trump’s afternoon announcement.“Over the years, Venezuelan national and local authorities have ceded ever-greater control over their territories to transnational criminal organizations, including TdA,” Trump’s statement reads.“The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a substantial danger to the United States.”The act was last used as part of the internment of Japanese-American civilians during World War II and has only been used two other times in American history, during World War I and the War of 1812.

Trump argued in his declaration that it is justified because he contends the Tren de Aragua gang, a common talking point on the campaign trail, has ties to the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.The Tren de Aragua gang originated in a prison in the South American country 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.Trump and his allies have turned the gang into the face of the alleged threat posed by immigrants living in the U.S.

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