What is the Alien Enemies Act?
In 1798, with the US preparing for what it believed would be a war with France, Congress passed a series of laws that increased the federal government's reach. Worried that immigrants could sympathise with the French, the Alien Enemies Act was created to give the president wide powers to imprison and deport non-citizens in time of war.
Since then, the Act has been used just three times: during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.
During World War II, with anti-foreigner fears sweeping the country, it was part of the legal rationale for mass internment in the US of people of German, Italian and especially Japanese ancestry. An estimated 1.2 lakh people with Japanese heritage, including those with US citizenship, were incarcerated during the war.
Why it is in News
US President Donald Trump on Saturday invoked the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II, granting himself sweeping powers under a centuries-old law to deport people associated with a Venezuelan gang. Hours later, a federal judge halted deportations under Trump's order.
The act is a sweeping wartime authority that allows non-citizens to be deported without being given the opportunity to go before an immigration or federal court judge.
Trump repeatedly hinted during his campaign that he would declare extraordinary powers to confront illegal immigration and laid additional groundwork in a slew of executive orders on January 20.
His proclamation on Saturday identified Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang as an invading force. US District Judge James E Boasberg, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, blocked anyone from being deported under Trump's proclamation for two weeks and scheduled a Friday hearing to consider arguments.
Does illegal immigration constitute an invasion?
It is a new and untested argument. Trump has warned of the power of Latin American criminal gangs in the US, but only a tiny percentage of the people living illegally in the US are criminals.
Trump, in his wartime declaration on Saturday, said Tren de Aragua "is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion of predatory incursion against the territory of the United States". He said the gang was engaged in "irregular warfare" against the United States at the direction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Tren de Aragua originated in an infamously lawless prison in the central state of Aragua and accompanied an exodus of millions of Venezuelans, the overwhelming majority of whom were seeking better living conditions after their nation's economy came undone last decade.
Last month, the Trump administration designated Tren de Aragua and seven other Latin American crime organisations as "foreign terrorist organisations", upping pressure on cartels operating in the US and on anyone aiding them.
Congress' research arm said in a report last month officials may use the foreign terrorist designations to argue the gang's activities in the US amount to a limited invasion. "This theory appears to be unprecedented and has not been subject to judicial review," the Congressional Research Service said.
