Donald Trump Plans Mass Deportation Using The Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

Donald Trump | Image: Getty Images

President-elect Donald Trump has announced plans to utilize the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to facilitate mass deportations of immigrants during his upcoming term. This 18th-century statute grants the president authority to detain and expel nationals of countries with which the United States is at war. Historically, it has been invoked during the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II, each following a formal declaration of war by Congress.

The Alien Enemies Act was originally enacted amid tensions between the Federalist Party, which favored strong ties with Great Britain, and the Democratic-Republican Party, led by Thomas Jefferson, which supported France. The Federalists, concerned about foreign influence and internal dissent, passed this law to empower the president to act against nationals from hostile nations during wartime.

Painting Depicting President elect at the time, George Washington, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton | Image: Three Lions \ Getty Images.

Trump’s proposed invocation of this act aims to expedite the deportation process by circumventing traditional immigration courts, thereby allowing for quicker apprehension and removal of individuals without legal authorization. This approach is expected to face significant legal challenges, as it represents a departure from the act’s historical application, which has been limited to periods of declared war.

U.S Border Patrol agents process migrants as seen from the Mexican side of the US-Mexico border. Image: Guillermo Arias / Getty Images

Legal experts anticipate that employing the Alien Enemies Act in this manner will prompt extensive judicial scrutiny, focusing on the statute’s text, its historical context, and prior instances of use. The outcome of such legal battles could have profound implications for the scope of presidential authority in immigration enforcement.

While the Alien Enemies Act provides the president with certain powers during wartime, its application in the context of peacetime immigration enforcement is unprecedented and is likely to be contested in the courts.