President Trump is planning to invoke an obscure wartime authority in the coming days to rapidly accelerate the deportation of immigrants from the United States, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Trump could invoke the law, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, as soon as Friday, the same day he will deliver a speech at the Justice Department, the people said. The law could give Mr. Trump sweeping authority to remove undocumented immigrants while providing them little to no due process, although the move is likely to be challenged in court.
He wants to target immigrants suspected of having ties to gangs, according to the people familiar with the plan. They asked for anonymity because the decision had not been announced.
Mr. Trump is considering using the law as his top immigration advisers have grown concerned about the pace of deportations. Mr. Trump promised during his campaign to launch the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.
What is the Alien Enemies Act?
The law allows for the summary deportation of people from countries with which the United States is at war, that have invaded the United States or that have engaged in “predatory incursions.”
In one of his earliest actions since taking office in January, Mr. Trump appeared to lay the groundwork for using the law when he signed an executive order declaring illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border an invasion.
The authority has been invoked three times in the past, all during times of war, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a law and policy organization.
“In World Wars I and II, the law was a key authority behind detentions, expulsions, and restrictions targeting German, Austro-Hungarian, Japanese, and Italian immigrants based solely on their ancestry,” according to the Brennan Center. “The law is best known for its role in Japanese internment, a shameful part of U.S. history.”
The law would empower the Trump administration to arrest and remove immigrants age 14 or older without providing them a court hearing or an asylum screening.
Legal experts have said the wartime law requires establishing a link to the actions of a foreign government, making it unclear how successful Mr. Trump would be in using it to deport immigrants and suspected members of drug cartels.
How would Trump use it?
Mr. Trump wants to use the law to expel suspected members of drug cartels and criminal gangs, including the Venezuelan group Tren de Aragua, people familiar with the matter say. The administration already has designated the Venezuelan gang a terrorist organization. The government intends to send some of those arrested through the authority to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, according to a person familiar with the matter.
On his first day in office, Mr. Trump said: “I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities.”
