Trump Invokes Alien Enemies Act to Deport Gang Members

Alien Enemies Act is Invoked.
Trump Takes New Measures Against Immigrants.
Members of Tren de Aragua.

U.S. President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 on Saturday, March 15.

Specifically, to accelerate the mass deportations of members of the transnational gang Tren de Aragua.

His executive order emphasized that Tren de Aragua «is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against U.S. territory.»

And that all Venezuelans over the age of 14 who belong to the gang, are in the United States, and are not naturalized citizens or legal permanent residents, are subject to detention, retention, and expulsion as alien enemies.

What Is the Alien Enemies Act?

#BREAKING: President Trump has just invoked the Alien Enemies Act, allowing him to QUICKLY ramp up deportations of violent criminals.

Trump’s initial efforts will be to find, arrest, and REMOVE members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Let’s go! Democrats are going to … pic.twitter.com/3oijxpoqd4

– Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 15, 2025

The Alien Enemies Act has not been invoked in the U.S. since World War II (1939-1945).

When it was used to detain U.S. citizens of Japanese descent, in one of the darkest episodes of contemporary racism.

YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN: Trump Plans to Invoke Alien Enemies Act to Accelerate Mass Deportations

The Republican leader argued that Tren de Aragua «is carrying out hostile actions and a war against U.S. territory.»

And asserted that it is doing so «both directly and under the direction, covert or otherwise, of the (Nicolás) Maduro regime in Venezuela.»

Trump declared that all members of this group, by virtue of their affiliation, are accused of actual hostility against the United States and pose a danger to public peace and national security.

The executive order emphasized that these individuals will not be allowed to reside in the United States.

And it instructed all executive departments and agencies to cooperate with law enforcement officials to use all legal means to carry out the directive.

The directive also stated that any property belonging to «alien enemies» used or intended to be used to perpetrate «hostile activity» by Tren de Aragua would be subject to seizure and forfeiture.

In February, the Trump administration followed through on its campaign threat.

And designated this gang, along with Mexico’s major drug cartels and the Central American gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), as a foreign terrorist organization.

Trump’s Order Connects Tren de Aragua to the Cartel of the Suns
The executive order issued last Saturday stated that the gang operates in conjunction with the Cartel of the Suns.

Additionally, it claimed that «it has participated and continues to participate in mass illegal migration to the U.S. to advance its objectives of harming U.S. citizens.»

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has decided to reactivate the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows him to detain or deport immigrants without the need for prior hearings. https://t.co/lk5jjwy1gk pic.twitter.com/op4fon3idw

– Runrunes (@Runrunesweb) March 15, 2025

As well as «undermining public security and supporting Maduro’s goal of destabilizing democratic nations in the Americas, including the United States.»

The directive attributed the leadership of the Cartel of the Suns to Maduro.

And criticized Venezuelan national and local authorities for gradually ceding control of their territory to transnational criminal organizations like Tren de Aragua.

Which, in Trump’s view, has resulted in «a hybrid criminal state» that is carrying out this «invasion» of the United States.

Trump emphasized that as President and Commander-in-Chief, it is his «solemn duty» to protect Americans from «the devastating effects» of this situation, which is why he is invoking the controversial Alien Enemies Act.

This law allows deportations without a hearing and, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, has been invoked only three times in U.S. history.

All of them during wartime: the War of 1812 and World Wars I and II.

During World War I and World War II, it was used to justify the detention and deportation of German, Austro-Hungarian, Italian, and Japanese immigrants.

And during World War II, it played a role in the U.S. policy of Japanese internment.

The nonpartisan legal and policy institute notes that the President can invoke it in the event of a declared war.

Or when a foreign government threatens or carries out an invasion against U.S. territory.

The Constitution grants Congress, not the President, the power to declare war, according to the EFE news agency.