President Donald Trump will soon follow up his promise to implement a 1798 law to speed up the expulsion of illegal immigrants from America, according to a new report.
“I will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target and dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil,” he said during the presidential campaign, according to NPR.
“Those were the old days, when they had tough politicians,” he also said en route to winning the race for the White House. “Think of that, 1798. Oh, it’s a powerful act. You couldn’t pass something like that today.”
The act gives Trump the power to expel non-citizens during a time of national emergency. Trump could invoke it as soon as Friday, according to CNN.
The Alien Enemies Act has been invoked three times in US history during World Wars I and II to detain or expel groups considered a threat.
Trump’s executive orders have laid the groundwork for invoking the Alien Enemies Act.
“I have determined that the current situation at the southern border qualifies as an invasion under Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution of the United States,” an order said.
In a January executive order, Trump said an emergency exists.
“A National Emergency currently exists along the southern border of the United States. Unchecked unlawful mass migration and the unimpeded flow of opiates across our borders continue to endanger the safety and security of the American people and encourage further lawlessness,” he wrote.
Do you think Trump should invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798?
In another order, Trump noted that “the United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security.”
Trump has written that illegal immigrants who are a threat should be removed.
“It is the policy of the United States to faithfully execute the immigration laws against all inadmissible and removable aliens, particularly those aliens who threaten the safety or security of the American people,” Trump wrote in another order.
“The Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, shall take all appropriate action to repel, repatriate, or remove any alien engaged in the invasion across the southern border of the United States,” Trump wrote.
One of Trump’s Jan. 20 executive orders indicated the Alien Enemies Act would likely be imposed.
The order called on “the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take all appropriate action, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to make operational preparations regarding the implementation of any decision I make to invoke the Alien Enemies Act,” Trump wrote.
The order called for Trump’s Cabinet members to “prepare such facilities as necessary to expedite the removal of those who may be designated under this order.”
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