Immigration: The Alien Enemies Act & CECOT
A 1798 wartime law invoked for the first time since World War II. Planes sent to El Salvador while a federal judge's order was being defied. A Maryland father with legal status accidentally deported and imprisoned.
The Alien Enemies Act is a wartime law enacted during the administration of President John Adams in 1798. It gives the president authority to summarily detain or deport nationals of an enemy nation during a declared war, or when that nation perpetrates, attempts, or threatens an "invasion or predatory incursion" against the United States. The law was designed for wartime use — its most recent prior invocation was during World War II, when it was used to intern 31,000 people, predominantly of Japanese, Italian, and German descent. The Japanese American internment has since been widely condemned as a civil liberties catastrophe.
The Brennan Center for Justice stated that "The Alien Enemies Act may be used only during declared wars or armed attacks on the United States by foreign governments." The United States is not at war with Venezuela; no invasion or attack has occurred. Trump justified the invocation by declaring that Tren de Aragua — a Venezuelan criminal gang — constituted a "hybrid criminal state" that was "invading" the United States. Legal experts widely challenged this framing.
On March 15, 2025, Trump issued a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act against Tren de Aragua. Almost immediately, planes carrying 238 people — alleged gang members — departed for El Salvador. Of the 238, 137 were deported under the AEA; 101 under regular immigration law. Also included were 23 alleged MS-13 members, even though MS-13 was not included in the AEA proclamation.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued an emergency restraining order on March 15 barring the deportations and ordering any planes already in the air to turn around. The planes did not turn around. The Trump administration defied the court order. Boasberg later found "probable cause" to hold the administration in criminal contempt of court — a finding that has been on pause at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The men were not given due process: no fair trials, no individual hearings on gang membership, no release dates, no sentences. Many were identified as gang members based solely on their tattoos — including tattoos of crowns, soccer balls, and palm trees that human rights organizations said bore no necessary gang association. Parents disputed gang membership claims, providing official Venezuelan documents showing no criminal records.
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele posted videos of the men arriving — handcuffed, heads shaved, kneeling on the ground surrounded by guards — at CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited CECOT and declared the deportees should remain there "for the rest of their lives." The men were held incommunicado — no access to family or lawyers. El Salvador formally stated to the United Nations that the men were not being held under Salvadoran law but under U.S. custody — effectively a lease arrangement.
The Administration Admitted Error
Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran man with protected legal status in the United States. On March 15, 2025, he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador and imprisoned at CECOT — an action the Trump administration admitted was an "administrative error." A court order already prohibited his removal due to the risk of persecution he would face in El Salvador.
Despite admitting the error, the administration simultaneously accused Abrego Garcia of being a member and leader of MS-13 — claims he denied, and which human rights groups and bipartisan lawmakers questioned. The administration stated it "doesn't have the authority" to bring him back from El Salvador.
A government attorney, Erez Reuveni, was fired after refusing to sign an appeal brief that included assertions he believed to be untrue. Abrego Garcia's wife and their disabled son, both U.S. citizens, filed a lawsuit. His case became the most high-profile symbol of the due process failures in the mass deportation program.
NPR — AEA Deportations & Due Process Ruling
NPR, December 22–23, 2025. Documents the AEA invocation, Boasberg's due process ruling, and the class certification for all CECOT migrants.
Wikipedia — March 2025 Deportations of Venezuelans
Detailed account of the 238 deportees, Abrego Garcia's case, tattoo identification controversy, and individual stories of those imprisoned.
Courthouse News Service — Supreme Court Ruling
Documents the 7–2 ruling finding due process violations and the rare middle-of-the-night injunction against further AEA flights.
American Immigration Council
"United States Frees Venezuelans Held in El Salvador," July 21, 2025. Documents the prisoner swap, El Salvador's statement that CECOT was leased to the U.S., and the ongoing litigation.
ABC News — Boasberg Order
ABC News, December 24, 2025. Documents the $4.7M U.S. payment to El Salvador and the due process ruling for the full CECOT class.