The Alien Enemy Act: History and Potential Use to Remove Members of International Criminal Cartels

CRS Legal Sidebar – The Alien Enemy Act: History and Potential Use to Remove Members of International Criminal Cartels, Updated April 2, 2025: On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order (E.O.) declaring a national emergency pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to address the threat to U.S. national security posed by international cartels and certain transnational organizations. The E.O. states that such organizations are engaged in a destabilizing “campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere” and directed the Secretary of State and other Cabinet members to designate certain international cartels and other organizations as foreign terrorist organizations or specially designated global terrorists under Executive Order 13224 for supporting international terrorism. On February 20, 2025, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, designated several international cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, including the organization known as Tren de Aragua (“TdA”). The E.O. also directed the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to make operational preparations within 14 days to implement any decision the President may make to invoke the Alien Enemy Act (also called the Alien Enemies Act) of 1798 to remove aliens designated as engaging in “any qualifying invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States by a qualifying actor.” The E.O. does not define “qualifying invasion” or “qualifying actor.” On March 14, 2025, President Trump invoked the Act, declaring that TdA “is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.” The President’s proclamation directed that “all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of TdA, are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies.” On March 15, 2025, a lawsuit was filed, arguing, among other things, that the Act does not provide the President with the authority to remove individuals from the United States under these circumstances. This Legal Sidebar provides a historical overview of the Alien Enemy Act and discusses the potential implications of invoking the Act to remove members of international crime cartels and other transnational organizations from the United States. This Legal Sidebar also briefly discusses the current litigation.”