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- 🌊 Trump Declares War on Alien Enemies
🌊 Trump Declares War on Alien Enemies
Trump is being accused of ignoring a court order. Did he?
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By Max Frost
The Alien Enemies Act was passed in 1798 with a simple purpose: To give the president broad authority, during times of declared war or invasion, to detain, relocate, or deport non-citizens who hail from a hostile foreign nation​.
It has been used three times since:
In the War of 1812, when the US declared war on Britain and President Madison invoked the law to apprehend and regulate British nationals residing in the US.
In World War I, when President Wilson invoked the law to designate Germans living within the US as alien enemies.
And in World War II, when President Roosevelt used it to declare all natives or citizens of Japan, Germany, and Italy in the United States as enemy aliens. This helped pave the way for the internment of thousands of people.
On Friday, Trump became the fourth president to invoke it, when he said it justified deportations without following typical legal pathways.
Three days later, Trump was asked, “There’s been some criticism that the Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked three other times and they’ve all been in times of war. Do you feel that you’re using it appropriately right now?”
“Well this is a time of war,” Trump said. “Because Biden allowed millions of people, many of them criminals…other nations emptied their jails into the United States. That’s an invasion.”
“They’ve invaded our country,” Trump continued. “In that sense, this is war.”
That’s Trump’s logic, but the courts aren’t sure: On Saturday night, a federal judge ruled that flights carrying deportees to El Salvador needed to turn back to the US while he determined a final ruling.
The planes didn’t do so. Instead, they proceeded to land and unload their passengers –250 alleged Venezuelan gang members – to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
So, has the White House ignored the courts? If so, what are the implications? And how does the Alien Enemies Act change the deportation process?
That’s the subject of today’s deep-dive.
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Editor’s Note
A lot of people wrote in yesterday to let us know they didn’t think we were Nazis. Thank you all for the moral support. Glad to know there are still sane people out there!
Among the respondents was Helen, who wrote:
I am pretty sure the souls and the descendants of the 11 million people Hitler murdered are pretty damned insulted by the tendency to equate so many people with Hitler.
But it wasn’t all love in the inbox. Gerry wrote:
You did not mention that it was ST PATRICKS DAY, which is an important day in the Catholic religion.
Our apologies, Gerry. Hope you had a nice day.
As always, let us know what you think about today’s installment. Are you supportive of Trump’s actions or worried by them? Share your thoughts here.
And here are the last five stories, in case you missed any:
See you tomorrow-
Max and Max