The American Council of Immigration does not approve or oppose candidates for elected offices. We aim to provide an analysis of the impact of elections on the US immigration system.
The Trump administration’s alien enemy call, which was originally kept secret before it was posted on Saturday, has now been put up in court in order to expand the legal battle over government compliance or lack of it with a judicial order.
However, the importance of the alien enemy declaration is not only due to the court battles, but also because the first plane road of dispatchers was sent to provide forced labor in prisons in El Salvador. After all, if the Trump administration wins, they will be allowed to resume deportation of Venezuelan men under the law – to El Salvador or other countries that take them – even give them the opportunity to know hearing and evidence against them.
Essentially, the use of alien enemies avoids immigration laws, and it incorporates protections, ensuring that people are not deported to torture or persecution, and along with anything similar to the constitutional guarantee of legitimate processes.
The alien enemy law was established in the 18th century. This is part of the infamous “aliens and instigation” and your humble correspondent was taught in 8th grade as an example of overreach of enforcement during a period when the American Republic was still working some bugs. He was last called during World War II to detain and detain non-citizens from Germany, Italy and Japan.
Now, that call is not just about resuscitation of yet another long-term legal authority. It is unique in three important ways.
First of all, over the past 80 years, the US government has implemented a comprehensive legal regime to control immigration. Part of this is the adoption of asylum laws in accordance with the post-World War II refugee treaty. They are rooted in the understanding that people are not the same as their own government, and in fact, individuals are so at risk under the government that they need to flee to seek protection elsewhere. The Trump administration’s attitude is that alien enemies exist independently of them as they precede these laws. The alien enemy law is to create parallel policies where the rights given to non-citizens of immigration law do not apply.
Second, in previous cases, alien enemy laws have only been used when the United States is officially at war. Under the constitution, only Parliament can do this. However, the Trump administration has not asked Congress to declare war. Instead, in the first day’s enforcement action, Trump declared that the United States was invading – no one designated – and now the United States justifies the use of alien enemy law for “declared invasions” (which, of course, was declared by Trump himself).
Then, finally, there is the question of who the law applies to. In a declaration this weekend, Trump said the US was under attack by the gangs in Tren de Aragua, not Venezuela. The declaration argues that Tren de Aragua is so thoroughly integrated into the Venezuelan government that it constitutes a “hybrid criminal state.” As a result, instead of simply applying it to everyone of a particular nationality, the Trump administration has invoked the AEA against Venezuelan men over the age of 14 who have decided to be members of Trendea Ragua.
However, there is no law on how the government will make such a resolve, as there is no process stipulated under the alien enemy. There will not be any penalty to the government for any supposed gang member for challenges or mistakes. He did not appear before the judges or exiles. If he says he will be persecuted in his home country, the United States may ignore his plea. All that is needed is to be labelled as a member of Tren de Aragua. He is a label he may not know and no one will learn to justify.
This is not a hypothesis. Since his flight to El Salvador, several reports have arisen of Venezuelans deported under alien enemy law without a criminal history in the United States and without a hearing without obvious connections with gangs.
The Washington Post reported on a quartet of men who played football in their spare time while working in retail and food production jobs to support Venezuelan families and moved to the Dallas area together. The men were held captive by ice in the attacks of their homes and believed they would be sent back to Venezuela. Their kids were planning a welcome back party. One of their mothers then saw a video posted online by the Bukkere government and realized that they had shaved their heads and frowned in apparent pain.
Lawyer Lindsay Toczylowski posted on social media about her client, a queer tattoo artist who escaped persecution in Venezuela. Instead of appearing in court, he was placed on a plane to El Salvador.
In a conversation with Reuters, the families of other men arrested on ice in Texas expressed that they were certainly unaware of suspicion that their loved one had been sent to El Salvador. Their suspicion had nothing to do with criminal or gang activity. It was just that their loved one had a rose tattoo. (Experts say the tattoo is not used as a marker for Tren de Lagua’s gang membership.)
The fact that so many stories have been revealed in just a few days suggests that these are no exceptions, even when many families still don’t know for sure that their relatives have been labelled and deported to members of Tren de Aragua. (In fact, in court filings, ICE admits that the majority of people who consider themselves to be members of Tren de Aragua have no criminal history in the United States, but claims that tattoos alone do not identify anyone as a member of a gang.
That’s what the administration says. It acquires an unquestionable and unquestionable power in itself. It transforms the United States into a country that can ruin family life, simply by what the government says, without processes or reliance.
Submitted below: Detention, Trump administration
