President Donald Trump is reportedly expected to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 in an effort to pave the way for faster mass deportations of illegal immigrants.
Trump campaigned on invoking the wartime law, which allows the president to detain or deport the natives and citizens of an enemy nation.
President Donald Trump (Pool via AP)
Trump will use the law to target members of the violent Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, the New York Post reported, citing two sources close to the administration.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House.
The law has been invoked three times during major conflicts: the War of 1812 and World Wars I and II. During World War II, the law was used to detain Japanese Americans.
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt released this image, writing on X that “deportation flights have begun.” (White House)
The move would come weeks into Trump’s second term in office, which has seen 32,000 illegal immigrants arrested in the first 50 days.
During his campaign, Trump promised to use the law to combat Tren de Aragua (TdA) members in the United States. TdA is an international gang that has committed a wave of violent acts across American cities, including taking over entire apartment complexes in Aurora, Colorado.
The group was recently designated a foreign terrorist organization by the Department of State.
“I’m announcing today that upon taking office, we will have an Operation Aurora at the federal level to expedite the removals of these savage gangs, and I will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798,” he said during an October rally. “Think of that, 1798.”
Possible members of the Tren de Aragua gang based in Venezuela were heavily armed and caught on surveillance camera inside an Aurora, Colo., apartment complex. (Left: Edward Romero)
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“Yeah, that’s a long time ago, right?” he added. “To target and dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil.”