Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act for first time since WWII. Why was it used previously?

Kate Linderman, The Charlotte Observer on Mar 17, 2025

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In a 226-year span, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 had been invoked only three times — until now.

President Donald Trump fulfilled a campaign promise to use the wartime act as a shortcut to deport suspected members of a Venezuelan gang, according to an executive order signed March 15.

The act was created when the United States was on the brink of war with France in the late 18th century in an effort to create more restrictions on noncitizens living in the U.S.

Trump has invoked the section of the act that authorizes “the president to deport ‘aliens,’ and (permits) their arrest, imprisonment, and deportation during wartime,” according to the act. Despite the two countries not being at war, in the executive order, he justifies the move by saying Venezuelan gangs have “invaded” the U.S.

This use of the act is being challenged in court despite Trump carrying out deportations of suspected members of the Tren de Aragua gang, NPR reported.

Here are the three times in U.S. history the act has been invoked.

War of 1812

After declaring war on Great Britain in 1812, the United States used the Alien Enemies Act to declare all British nationals living in the states as “alien enemies” due to their allegiance to British royalty, according to an 1812 letter written by Secretary of State James Monroe.

British nationals were required to report their age, length of time in the U.S., description of family, place of residence, occupation and whether or not they had applied for naturalization, according to copies of an 1812 letter held by the Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

World War I

Upon President Woodrow Wilson’s declaration that the United States would enter World War I on April 6, 1917, he subsequently placed restrictions on German and German-allied nationals living in the U.S., according to the National Archives.

Those deemed “alien enemies” during the war were not allowed to own firearms and were limited in where they could work and live, according to the archives. Additionally, policies surrounding threats and attacks on the U.S. and aid to enemies were invoked.

As fears of espionage grew, more requirements were placed on Germans.

By the end of the war, 480,000 Germans were registered, and 6,300 were arrested under this guidance.

Those arrested were detained in internment or military camps under presidential arrest warrants, according to the U.S. Marshals.

Regulations on those deemed enemy aliens were lifted approximately one year and eight months after war was declared and just over a month after armistice on Nov. 11, 1918, according to the U.S. Marshals.

World War II

The bombing of Pearl Harbor led to a near-immediate invocation of three presidential proclamations by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, deeming those of German, Italian and Japanese descent living in the United States as enemy aliens, according to the National Archives.

Though thousands were detained in Japanese internment camps following the attack of Pearl Harbor, this did not fall under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as many of those held in the camps were American citizens, according to the Truman Library. This fell under Executive Order 9066 signed by Roosevelt two months after Pearl Harbor.

The Enemy Aliens Act invoked at the time led to many deportations, according to the archives, but few people received a hearing. According to their records, many did not know why they were deported during the war.

“Often these individuals were deported based on hearsay or for other political reasons,” according to the National Archives.

“By the end of the war, over 31,000 suspected enemy aliens and their families, including a few Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, had been interned at Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) internment camps and military facilities throughout the United States,” per the National Archives.

The final internment camps didn’t close until 1948, approximately three years after the second world war ended, according to the National Archives. The last remaining detainees were also released then.

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