REUTERS/via SNO Sites/Secretaria de Prensa de la Presi
Salvadoran police officers escort alleged members of the Tren de Aragua recently deported by the U.S. government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, in this handout image obtained March 16, 2025. Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via REUTERS
Just when you thought it couldn’t get more bizarre, Donald Trump, in the second month of his presidency, has unearthed a controversial law from 227 years ago.
This law in question is the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, implemented by John Adams when the United States was at war with France. Trump invoked the act as a means to justify deporting people that his administration alleged were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
Despite their Venezuelan origins, the deported gang members were sent to El Salvador, where they’re currently being held in a barbarous mega-prison. Known for its harsh conditions, this prison groups dozens of prisoners in crowded cells with little to no furniture for nearly the whole day, every day.
So far, the Trump administration has been cracking down on crime suspected to have been committed by South American immigrants, prioritizing mass deportations and nationwide hysteria over dealing with other issues hurting society, such as the increasing prices of essential products.
Although they were able to successfully send those alleged gang members to El Salvador, there has been pushback from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and federal judge James E. Boasberg.
An ACLU attorney noted that the Alien Enemies Act is a sparsely used law, only having been used during a war only three times in America’s history, revealing the absurdity of the act’s return.
We are not at war with Venezuela, nor any other South American country. It is incredibly irresponsible for Trump to invoke a wartime act as a means to justify deporting whoever he wants to.
Regardless, the Trump administration followed through and sent them to El Salvador anyway. In response, Boasberg ordered the planes to bring the incarcerated suspects back.
The administration completely ignored this, saying that they can’t do it because the suspects have already left the country. If it weren’t so concerning how bad that excuse is, it would almost be laughable.
The deflection of a federal judge’s order is a direct violation of checks and balances and it will only continue to happen so long as Trump reigns over the federal government.
It should be no surprise that a convicted felon is once again trying to bend the rules whenever he sees fit.
By invoking the Alien Enemies Act and getting away with it, Trump has opened a pathway to future deportations of anyone he deems to be a disturbance to his power.
With the panic around immigrants, particularly those of Latin American descent, Trump could continue mass deportations without regard for approval from the legislative and judicial branches.
Now, we don’t know who is safe.