SILVER SPRING, Md — HIAS decries the ongoing use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. While the act was invoked to target gang members for removal, reports indicate that individuals who have no connection to the gang, and rather were seeking asylum in the U.S., were removed as well.
“The U.S. government is now applying a centuries-old wartime law in order to bypass the due process and human rights of immigrants, with horrifying consequences,” said Naomi Steinberg, HIAS Vice President of U.S. Policy and Advocacy. “The Alien Enemies Act was written hundreds of years ago to allow the U.S. to deport nationals of nations with which the U.S. was at war. Today, it is being used recklessly, ignoring any notion of due process and sending people to a country that is not their own, where they are at great risk of danger and even torture.”
The U.S. Supreme Court itself agreed that individuals should be given notice of their impending deportation, and given the opportunity to contest it. The order also required that a legal challenge to an individual’s detention and deportation under the Alien Enemies Act must be filed in the district where the individual is detained. But it remains to be seen whether the administration will comply with this order, particularly in situations when the detained individual lacks access to counsel.
Due process is fundamental to the rule of law. Without it, individuals in the United States cannot challenge unlawful action that jeopardizes their safety. The Court’s affirmation of the need for due process is an important defense of one of our most basic democratic principles.
“As the Alien Enemies Act faces challenges in court, these individuals remain imprisoned, their circumstance an outcome of a broad overreach in executive power under the pretext of national security,” Steinberg continued. “This is only one of countless examples of President Trump’s deportation agenda, which shows little regard for the fundamental right to due process or ensuring that deportees are not subject to grave harm.”
The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 was last invoked during WWII to imprison over 120,000 individuals of Japanese descent in internment camps. It is a stain on our history. As an organization that has been advocating for the rights and safety of immigrants for more than a century, HIAS will continue to speak out.
Please direct all press inquiries to media@hias.org.