© Shutterstock

A centuries-old law -

The Alien Enemies Act, dating back to 1798, grants the US president sweeping authority over non-citizens during wartime. Recently, Donald Trump invoked it to target a Venezuelan gang, despite the statute being more than two centuries old.

© Getty Images

A national security threat -

Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal group, was designated as conducting “irregular warfare” against the United States, which led to over 200 deportations under Trump’s recent executive order applying the Alien Enemies Act.

© Getty Images

Legal resistance -

A federal judge temporarily halted the deportation of these individuals, raising concerns about the law’s constitutionality and signaling legal complexities around executive wartime powers over non-citizens. The 200 men remain incarcerated in El Salvador while the situation continues.

© Getty Images

Lack of declared war -

Critics argue that invoking the Alien Enemies Act is inappropriate since the United States is not officially at war with Venezuela. Despite this, the US Supreme Court has allowed Trump to invoke the law, which means that the incarcerated men may face deportation unless they are successfully able to challenge the verdict. But how has this law been used in the past?

© Shutterstock

Post-Revolutionary paranoia -

The Alien Enemies Act emerged alongside three other laws under the Alien and Sedition Acts, introduced during a time of national insecurity following the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783).

© Getty Images

Global politics -

Tensions between Great Britain and revolutionary France, including British ship seizures and French retaliation, escalated fears and forced the young American nation into precarious diplomatic territory.

© Getty Images

Domestic political factions -

Federalists, led by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton (both pictured), sought alignment with Britain, while Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans favored France. This deepened internal conflicts about foreign allegiances and immigrant loyalty.

© Getty Images

Rising suspicion -

Immigrants arriving after the Revolution were seen as politically unpredictable and potentially disloyal, which prompted efforts to regulate their presence and restrict their path to citizenship.

© Getty Images

Tightening control -

To mitigate perceived threats, Congress passed laws empowering the president to deport non-citizens, criminalize dissent, and dramatically increase the time required for foreigners to obtain US citizenship.

© Getty Images

The Alien Enemies Act -

Alongside the Sedition Act, Alien Friends Act, and the expanded Naturalization Act, the Alien Enemies Act offered the broadest control over foreign nationals and granted the president sweeping powers during wartime.

© Getty Images

State-level resistance -

Through the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (pictured) challenged the Alien and Sedition Acts as unconstitutional, but their efforts were dismissed by the majority of other states.

© Getty Images

Only one act survives -

Though the Sedition, Alien Friends, and Naturalization Acts expired or were revised, the Alien Enemies Act endured and remains active federal law well over 200 years later.

© Getty Images

Vague criteria -

The act covers any “natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects” who are aged 14 or older, and who come from a hostile government and live in the US. It allows presidents to determine their handling, with broad discretion over detainment, surveillance, and deportation during times of conflict.

© Getty Images

Male subjects only -

Initially, the law targeted only men, but a World War I-era amendment expanded its reach to include women from enemy nations. One caveat remains, however: the president is required to declare war or threat of invasion before invoking the statute.

© Getty Images

The law’s first application -

The first time in which the law was applied was during the War of 1812. President James Madison labeled British nationals enemy aliens, subjecting them to reporting requirements, relocation from coastal areas, and limitations on their movement and activities.

© Getty Images

Civilian impact -

Though restrictions were imposed, historical records are incomplete on how many British citizens were forcibly relocated, detained, or deported under the Alien Enemies Act’s authority.

© Getty Images

World War I -

During the First World War, President Woodrow Wilson applied the act to German and Austro-Hungarian citizens, which severely curbed their freedoms (including speech and movement), particularly near sensitive military areas.

© Getty Images

Legal constraints -

Those designated as enemy aliens during World War I faced bans on firearm possession, censorship of their communications, and surveillance. Around 10,000 Germans and Austro-Hungarians were arrested, and around 2,000 were held in camps for years after the war ended in 1918.

© Getty Images

World War II -

The Alien Enemies Act reached peak notoriety during the Second World War when President Franklin D. Roosevelt used it to classify Japanese, German, and Italian non-citizens as enemy aliens following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

© Getty Images

Immediate detentions -

Authorities rapidly arrested Japanese community leaders, often without evidence, and detained them indefinitely. This set a dangerous precedent for rights violations based on ancestry. Over 31,000 people of Axis ancestry were incarcerated, often without individualized suspicion, with property seized and basic freedoms denied throughout and beyond the war.

© Getty Images

Japanese Americans -

The law laid the foundation for Executive Order 9066, which led to the incarceration of another 120,000 people of Japanese descent (two-thirds of whom were US citizens) under suspicionless orders.

© Getty Images

Lives uprooted -

Those who were incarcerated were forced to live in camps for years. Many families were uprooted and moved to temporary sites known as assembly centers before being relocated to more permanent facilities in desolate parts of the US.

© Getty Images

Life without release -

Although the United States secured a victory against Japan in 1942’s Battle of Midway (which took place six months after Pearl Harbor), the camps did not close. Over 5,000 babies were born in detention, and nearly 2,000 people died before they could taste freedom.

© Getty Images

Erosion of civil liberties -

Though internment of citizens relied on other laws, the Alien Enemies Act normalized racialized detention and opened the door for sweeping crackdowns based on ethnicity and origin.

© Getty Images

Acknowledged injustice -

In 1987, Congress formally acknowledged that the use of the Alien Enemies Act during World War II was a “fundamental injustice.” But despite this, the act remains federal law to this day.

© Getty Images

Law upheld -

In Ludecke v. Watkins (1948), the Supreme Court ruled the act constitutional and argued that war-related conditions still persisted, which legitimized continued detentions even after the conflict had ended.

© Getty Images

Dissent -

Several justices disagreed with the Supreme Court, and warned against unchecked executive power. They emphasized the dangers of allowing a single elected person to sidestep foundational liberties, even in wartime.

© Getty Images

Repeal efforts -

Civil rights advocates and former detainees have sought to strike down the Alien Enemies Act, fearing its potential for modern misuse during periods of political instability.

© Shutterstock

Personal history fuels activism -

Former Representative Mike Honda, incarcerated as a child in a Colorado internment camp, led efforts to repeal the law during his congressional tenure. Honda’s proposed repeal, the Neighbors, Not Enemies Act, was introduced multiple times, but repeatedly died in committee.

© Getty Images

Shaping entire policies -

Even in the absence of a declared war, the Alien Enemies Act remains a powerful tool that can redefine public safety priorities and civil liberties. The act has raised various questions about who belongs, who decides, and at what cost.

Sources: (National Geographic) (Britannica)

See also: A list of the most controversial executive orders issued by Trump

© Shutterstock