Trump To Invoke Disgraced Wartime Law to Expand Deportation Dragnet

Washington, D.C. –  The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to invoke the Alien Enemies Act soon, an 18th-century wartime law that grants the president broad authority to detain and deport noncitizens from so-called “enemy nations.” The law was most infamously used during World War II to justify the internment of Japanese Americans—a decision widely condemned as a grave violation of civil rights. The Brennan Center for Justice warns that invoking this law in peacetime would be a “staggering abuse,” contradicting centuries of legislative, presidential, and judicial precedent affirming its use as a wartime measure. 

This announcement follows the abrupt removal of the Internal Revenue Service’s acting chief counsel, an effort to fast-track data collection and dismantle legal barriers to mass removals. With access to personal data, the administration is poised to sweep up long-settled immigrants with jobs, families, and deep ties to their communities– and with the infrastructure in place, citizens who dissent could be next.

Statement from Beatriz Lopez, Co-Executive Director of the Immigration Hub:

“Trump is unearthing one of America’s darkest laws to launch a deportation dragnet unlike anything in modern history. The Alien Enemies Act will make it easier for ICE to identify, arrest and deport taxpaying, long-settled immigrants who have built lives, families, and businesses here. Especially with access to personal data through the IRS, families across the country will be at risk of deportation even if they arrived in the U.S. lawfully.

“Anyone who still thinks Trump and DHS is still going after ‘criminal’ immigrants is deluding themselves from reality. The campaign promise of mass deportation was always targeted at hard-working immigrants and our democracy. The chilling progression is undeniable: undocumented farmworkers now, college students who protest next, and ultimately, any American who dares challenge their authority. No one is safe when authoritarianism disguises itself as ‘law and order.’

“History has branded moments like these in shame—and it warns us that once the government seizes unchecked authority, it never stops at its first target. Trump is already flirting with proposals from military contractor Erik Prince to deploy private security forces, turning mass deportations into a for-profit operation with offshore detention camps. The slope isn’t just slippery—it’s steep, and at the bottom is a regime emboldened to target anyone who dissents. This is a test of how far Trump can go. And if we don’t stop it now, history offers us a glimpse of what will come next.”

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The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.