Tren de Aragua ‘is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States,’ Trump said.
President Donald Trump on March 15 invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798—a law allowing for quick deportation of foreigners during times of war or invasion—and ordered the immediate arrest and removal from the United States of all Venezuelan nationals deemed to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang, who are now considered “alien enemies.”
Trump issued a proclamation invoking the Act with regard to the Tren de Aragua criminal organization, which was earlier designated by the State Department as a foreign terrorist organization.
In the proclamation, Trump asserts that many of the group’s members have unlawfully infiltrated the United States and are “conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions” against the country.
Tren de Aragua “is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States,” Trump said.
“I direct that all Alien Enemies described in section 1 of this proclamation are subject to immediate apprehension, detention, and removal, and further that they shall not be permitted residence in the United States,” states Trump’s proclamation, which also directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to communicate to members of the judicial branch that this is now the official policy of the United States.
Trump has repeatedly indicated his intention to invoke the act to combat illegal immigration, including during his Jan. 20 inaugural address, when he said that, “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.”
The president’s decision to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to fast-track the deportation of Tren de Aragua members has already drawn a legal challenge from civil rights groups and a temporary block from a federal judge.
Shortly before Trump issued the proclamation, Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia intervened to temporarily halt the deportation of five Venezuelans deemed to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang, who are currently detained in Texas and slated for deportation.
In a lawsuit filed early Saturday by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Democracy Forward, the groups challenged the constitutionality of Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, arguing that the United States is not at war with Venezuela, nor is it facing an invasion, which are required conditions under the 1798 law.
In halting the deportation of the five Venezuelan nationals for two weeks, the judge found that the plaintiffs met the threshold for preliminary relief, including a likelihood of success on the merits, and irreparable harm if deported.
The judge scheduled a March 17 hearing to determine if his temporary restraining order should be extended into a preliminary injunction, which could block the deportations indefinitely while the case is litigated.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the ruling. However, Trump declared an “invasion” at the southern border on day one back in office, a designation that could have major implications for the legal battle over the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport individuals quickly and with little due process.
Trump signed a proclamation on Jan. 20, declaring a national emergency, claiming that “America’s sovereignty is under attack” from criminal gangs and the illegal entry of aliens.
The president further asserted that the “invasion” has caused “widespread chaos and suffering” in the United States and continues to pose a “present danger and imminent threat” to U.S. communities, ordering the military and Homeland Security to take immediate action to secure the border.
In contrast, the ACLU and Democracy Forward contend in their lawsuit that the United States is neither at war with Venezuela nor facing an invasion from a foreign country, and so the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport the five Venezuelan men—alleged members of Tren de Aragua—is illegitimate.
“The vagueness and breadth of the expected Proclamation, along with the government’s haphazard process for accusing individuals of affiliation with Tren de Aragua, will undoubtedly result in fear and uncertainty about the Proclamation’s scope, and will chill immigrants in their day-to-day activities and the exercise of their basic constitutional rights,” the ACLU and Democracy Forward wrote in their complaint.
They describe Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act as an “extraordinary and atextual invocation of a war power” that is unjustified as it comes outside of the context of an actual or imminent war, alleging that the move even threatens “the broader stability of the United States’ legal order.”
Since taking office, Trump has acted decisively on immigration enforcement, including ordering federal agencies to take immediate action to repel and remove illegal immigrants who cross the border.