Demonstrators hold signs as they protest the deportation of Assistant Professor of Medicine Dr. Rasha Alawieh of Brown University at the State House in Providence, Rhode Island, on 17 March 2025. [Getty]
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly been bringing up the Alien Enemies Act. For many US citizens, it is their first time, since before Trump ran for public office, hearing about a law from 1798. However, it has now become part of the regular lexicon of daily news broadcasts in the coverage of Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
It is part of the Alien and Sedition Acts, a set of four laws passed in the late 1700s placing higher restrictions on immigration and speech. The Naturalisation Act raised requirements for citizenship applicants; the Alien Friends Act gave the president the authority to arrest, imprison and deport non-citizens; the Sedition Act made false statements about the federal government a crime; and the Alien Enemies Act gave the president the authority to detain non-citizens during wartime. The Naturalisation Act was repealed in 1802, and the Alien Friends Act, and the Sedition Act expired in 1800. The Alien Enemies Act remains law.
What is the history of the Alien Enemies Act?
The law, part of the Alien and Sedition Acts, came into place under then-president John Adams. The laws’ supporters argued that it boosted national security during an undeclared war with France in the late 1700s. Its critics, much like today, said that it suppressed free speech. The opposition party that denounced the laws won the following election in 1800 due to backlash against the policy.
However, with the law remaining in place, it was used by multiple US administrations. James Madison used it against British citizens during the War of 1812; Woodrow Wilson used it against citizens from Central Powers during World War I; and Franklin Roosevelt used a revised version of the law during World War II to send Japanese residents and to a lesser extent Germans and Italians—most of whom held US citizenship—to internment camps. Around 120,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated and incarcerated at 10 different camps across the US during the war.
The law is generally not favourably viewed by scholars and is largely seen as unconstitutional. Its use, particularly during World War II against Japanese Americans, is generally considered a black mark in US history. Moreover, the text of the law itself states that it is to be used during wartime. Trump has at times described migration through the southern border as an invasion from Mexico, however that does not legally qualify as a war.
What is Trump’s interest in the law?
Trump repeatedly brought up the Alien Enemies Act during his presidential campaign, then at his inauguration, and multiple times since he took office. Saying that he would deliver on his promise of mass deportation, Trump has said that he wants to oversee the most deportations since Roosevelt.
Trump has mainly pointed to two communities of immigrants that he wants to deport—Latin Americans and pro-Palestinian protesters.
In February, Trump ordered the deportation of suspected gang members from Venezuela. A judge then ordered the deportation blocked. The White House continued with the deportation nonetheless.
“The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA [Tren de Aragua] aliens had already been removed from US territory,” Karoline Leavitt, press secretary for the White House, wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrying foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from US soil.”
In March, federal law enforcement arrested and detained Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at his residence in New York City. The recent Columbia University graduate had reportedly been ordered for deportation by the State Department. A judge blocked the deportation, though Khalil remains in custody.
Many consider this a test case for how far Trump will go with his detentions and deportations of foreign students. Since Khalil’s arrest, several other students have faced similar punishment. These actions have been met with growing condemnation, largely on free speech grounds, including from many who don’t share Khalil’s politics.
