The obscure, 226-year-old law Donald Trump plans use to deport foreign nationals

President-elect Donald Trump often said during the 2024 presidential campaign that he plans to launch the nation’s largest-ever mass deportation operation in his second term.

Trump has pledged to carry out this work by using an obscure 18th-century law called the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

The act empowers presidents to apprehend and remove foreign nationals from countries that are at war with the United States. US presidents have issued executive proclamations and invoked this law three times: during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II. All three instances followed Congress declaring war.

Why bother dusting off a 226-year-old law?

Invoking the Alien Enemies Act could make it far easier for the Trump administration to quickly apprehend, detain and deport immigrants living in the US without legal authorisation. That’s because the law lets presidents bypass immigration courts.

In my view, if Trump uses the Alien Enemies Act to carry out his mass deportation plans, it almost certainly would trigger major court battles in which the text, early history and previous uses of this antiquated law take center stage.

Repressive origins, populist backlash

The Alien Enemies Act traces back to the late 1700s, when the Federalists, an early political party, controlled Congress. The Federalists wanted strong national government as well as harmonious diplomatic and trade relations with Great Britain.

The Federalists became outraged when the French government began...

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