President Donald Trump is considering employing a centuries-old law to expedite the deportation of foreign national gangs and cartel members to help secure the U.S. border.
On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to “invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target and dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil.”
The Alien Enemies Act is part of the larger Alien and Sedition Acts, which Congress enacted during John Adams’s presidency when the United States was on the brink of war with France. It is a sweeping law that, when invoked, grants the president extraordinary power.
On his first day in office, Trump signed 10 border-related executive actions, including an executive order that states that the president may invoke the Alien Enemies Act to stop “any invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States by a qualifying actor.”…