General Discussion

Trump Administration Appears to Launch ‘Alien Enemies Act’ Deportation Program

by Ryan Goodman
March 15, 2025

{snip}

The use of the Alien Enemies Act is not consistent with the text of the statute or past U.S. practice dating to the WWII era (the last time it was invoked) and earlier, according to legal experts. By its terms, the Act applies only when there is a “declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government” or an “invasion” perpetrated “against the territory of the United States by any foreign nation or government.”

“The constitutional text makes clear that invasion refers to an actual attack,” wrote Ilya Somin, a law professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. (1) “The absurdity” of the administration’s position “becomes even more clear when we recall that the invasion provisions of the Constitution – especially the Guarantee Clause – were understood to protect not only against foreign invasion, but against invasions of one state by another.” It is unclear how the administration could lawfully assert that the Venezuelan gang could constitute a “foreign nation or government” for purposes of the Act.

{snip}

About the Author(s)
Ilya Somin

Ilya Somin (Bluesky - LinkedIn - X) is Professor of Law at George Mason University, B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute, and author of Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration and Political Freedom.