US President Donald Trump signed executive orders on multiple issues on his inauguration day (January 20), including declaring a national emergency on the country’s southern border over immigration in accordance with his major campaign promise.
Trump To Invoke Alien Enemies Act Of 1798
Why In News
- US President Donald Trump signed executive orders on multiple issues on his inauguration day (January 20), including declaring a national emergency on the country’s southern border over immigration in accordance with his major campaign promise.
- Concerns about internal security and alleged crimes by immigrants were central to his narrative against illegal immigration. Trump also said in his inaugural speech, “We will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. And 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”.
What Is The Alien Enemies Act Of 1798
- Act empowers the US President to order “all such aliens as he shall judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or shall have reasonable grounds to suspect are concerned in any treasonable or secret machinations against the government” to be deported.
- According to the US National Archives website, “Passed in preparation for an anticipated war with France, the Alien and Sedition Acts tightened restrictions on foreign-born Americans and limited speech critical of the government.” Four laws, together known as the Alien and Sedition Acts, introduced changes like raising the residency requirements for citizenship from 5 to 14 years and authorising the President to arrest, imprison and deport “aliens” during wartime.
- Media reports say Trump has cited it because, unlike a more conventional path, it would allow him to bypass immigration courts – where those accused of violating immigration law can argue their case. Relief is also granted in certain cases (such as asylum) but due to inadequate resources, a large backlog of cases exists in such courts today. Deporting people through this route could take a long time and require significant funds.
How Have Governments Previously Used It
- Act has been invoked thrice to date – the War of 1812 between the US and the UK, World War I, and World War II. The Brennan Centre for Justice, a US-based law and policy organisation, explained that the law was key during the world wars. It was used for detentions, expulsions and restrictions that targeted German, Austro-Hungarian, Japanese, and Italian immigrants based solely on their ancestry.
Could The Alien Enemies Act Be Deployed Against Illegal Immigrants
- The text of the Act and its previous invocations show that it was primarily used during wartime. Apart from direct conflict, it can also be invoked against an attempted or threatened “invasion or predatory incursion” by any foreign nation or government.
- But that is not happening in the US currently. Brennan Centre says, “Today, some anti-immigration politicians and groups urge a non-literal reading of invasion and predatory incursion… in response to unlawful migration and cross-border narcotics trafficking.
- These politicians and groups view the Alien Enemies Act as a turbocharged deportation authority. But their proposed reading of the law is at odds with centuries of legislative, presidential, and judicial practice, all of which confirm that the Alien Enemies Act is a wartime authority.”
- George Fishman, a former Department of Homeland Security deputy general counsel in the first Trump administration, it may not stand up in federal court. Attributing the actions of immigrant individuals, or even those of gangs and cartels to their origin countries’ governments would be difficult.
