Trump invokes centuries-old war measure in his campaign against 'invasion' by Venezuelan gang

The Associated Press

· Posted: Mar 15, 2025 5:48 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

Claiming the United States was being invaded by a Venezuelan gang, U.S. President Donald Trump connected Saturday invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a sweeping wartime authorization that allows the president broader leeway connected argumentation and enforcement enactment to velocity up wide deportations of radical — perchance pushing his promised crackdown connected migration into higher gear.

Trump's declaration targets Tren de Aragua (TdA), contending it is simply a hostile unit acting astatine the behest of Venezuela's government.

The declaration comes the aforesaid time that a national justice successful Washington barred the medication from deporting 5 Venezuelans nether the expected order, a hint astatine the ineligible conflict brewing implicit Trump's move. The justice was scheduled to see expanding the prohibition connected deportation conscionable minutes aft Trump's day announcement.

"Over the years, Venezuelan nationalist and section authorities person ceded ever-greater power implicit their territories to transnational transgression organizations, including TdA," Trump's connection reads. "The effect is simply a hybrid transgression authorities that is perpetrating an penetration of and predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a important information to the United States."

The enactment was past utilized arsenic portion of the internment of Japanese-American civilians during the Second World War and has lone been utilized 2 different times successful American history, during the First World War and the War of 1812.

WATCH | Trump moves rapidly connected migration raids, arrests: 

Trump argued successful his declaration that it is justified due to the fact that helium contends the Tren de Aragua pack has ties to the authorities of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — a communal talking constituent for Trump connected the run trail.

Trump talked astir utilizing the enactment during his statesmanlike campaign, and migration groups were braced for it. That led to Saturday's antithetic lawsuit, filed earlier Trump's declaration adjacent became public. The suit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward connected behalf of 5 Venezuelans whose cases abruptly moved toward deportation successful caller hours.

James E. Boasberg, main justice of the D.C. Circuit, agreed to instrumentality a impermanent restraining bid preventing the deportation for 14 days nether the enactment of the 5 Venezuelans who are already successful migration custody and believed they were being astir to beryllium deported.

Boasberg said his bid was "to sphere the presumption quo." Boasberg scheduled a proceeding for aboriginal successful the day to spot if his bid should beryllium expanded to support each Venezuelans successful the United States.

Hours later, the Trump medication appealed the archetypal restraining order, contending that halting a statesmanlike enactment earlier it has been announced would cripple the enforcement branch.

If the bid were allowed to stand, "district courts would person licence to enjoin virtually immoderate urgent national-security enactment conscionable upon receipt of a complaint," the Justice Department wrote successful its appeal.

It said territory courts mightiness past contented impermanent restraining orders connected actions specified arsenic drone strikes, delicate quality operations, oregon violent captures oregon extraditions. The tribunal "should halt that way successful its tracks," the section argued.

The antithetic flurry of litigation highlights the contention astir the act, which could springiness Trump immense powerfulness to deport radical successful the state illegally. It could fto him bypass immoderate protections of mean transgression and migration instrumentality to swiftly deport those his medication contends are members of the gang.

The White House has already designated Tren de Aragua a violent enactment and is preparing to determination astir 300 radical it identifies arsenic members of the pack to detention successful El Salvador.