United States Intensifies Deportation of Venezuelan Migrants via 18th-Century Legislation, Compulsory Dispatches to El Salvador
Headline: The Trump Administration's Controversial Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Against Venezuelan Migrants
Crafted for the Modern Browser, March 17, 2025 (our website)
In Caracas, the though-provoking scenes unfold as the Trump regime intensified its efforts to target and expel Venezuelan migrants, deporting 238 individuals to El Salvador.
Donald Trump's administration has focused on the purported menace posed by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA). On Saturday, the White House issued a stern declaration, accusing this criminal organization of "conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States."
"TdA has engaged in and continues to engage in mass illegal migration ... to further its objectives of harming United States citizens, undermining public safety, and supporting the Maduro regime's goal of destabilizing democratic nations in the Americas," the document read.
The Maduro government fiercely condemned the utilization of an "anachronistic, illegal, and human rights-violating" legal device against Venezuelan migrants.
"The vast majority of Venezuelan migrants are hard-working, dignified, and honest individuals. They are not alien enemies. They are victims," Caracas' communique read. Venezuelan authorities pledged to engage multilateral instances to protect their migrants' rights, urging CELAC to mobilize a regional response.
The US President, often vocal about TdA, claimed the group is "perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against [US] territory." The enacted decree determines that all Venezuelans aged 14 and over who are deemed members of Tren de Aragua can be detained and deported as "Alien Enemies."
Trump's statement ordered the US Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to "apprehend and remove every Alien Enemy." The swift-paced deportation plan encountered an immediate setback when federal judge James Boasberg imposed a temporary 14-day restraining order to scrutinize the Act's legality.
The lawsuit contesting the Alien Enemies Act was initiated by Democracy Forward and the ACLU, representing Venezuelan plaintiffs at risk of immediate deportation. Skye Perryman, Democracy Forward's attorney, described Saturday as a "dark day" in US history, adding that Trump is seeking "extraordinary wartime powers in the absence of a war."
According to reports from CBS, the administration plans to leverage the wartime act to authorize summary deportations, including to the infamous overseas US military facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In February, US authorities transferred 177 Venezuelan migrants to this notorious location, only to return to Venezuela, via Honduras, on February 20.
Originally a US government initiative to tackle foreign espionage threats, the 1798 Alien Enemies Act has historically been invoked sparingly, last being used during World War II to herald the internment camps for Japanese Americans.
In its statement, the US government stated ties between the TdA gang originating from Venezuela and the Maduro government, along with the so-called Cartel de los Soles, an alleged drug trafficking cartel Washington claims is run by the Venezuelan military.
In 2020, the US Justice Department imposed "narco-terrorism" charges against Maduro and other high-ranking officials, citing the recurring accusation that Venezuelan leaders conspire to flood the US with drugs. The administration rewarded a $25 million bounty for Maduro's arrest, a sum later increased by the Biden administration. However, US authorities have not yet provided any evidence to support these accusations, and data from US agencies and think tanks show that less than 10 percent of US-bound cocaine flows through Venezuela's eastern Caribbean corridor.
After diversifying his presidential campaign with anti-migrant rhetoric, particularly targeting Venezuelans and Tren de Aragua, Trump vowed to designate the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization upon taking office. Despite this, the administration and law enforcement agencies have not provided any evidence that the group is behind any criminal activities on US territory.
Furthermore, US authorities have not furnished any proof that the Venezuelan nationals arrested and deported belong to the TdA group. Relatives of detainees have asserted the innocence of their loved ones and have denounced criminal profiling that appears to be based on factors such as tattoos. Critics allege that this discourse conflating all Venezuelan aliens with the Tren de Aragua aims to criminalize migrants.
Meanwhile, the US is incarcerating alleged Tren de Aragua members in prisons across El Salvador following a deal with President Nayib Bukele. According to the Associated Press, the Trump administration will pay $20,000 per inmate yearly to the Central American nation to hold these individuals captive.
On Sunday, Bukele confirmed the arrival of 238 Venezuelans who were taken to the "Terrorism Confinement Center" (CECOT). Reportedly, these flights defied Judge Boasberg's order that the planes be turned back. Known for its harsh mass incarceration policies, the Salvadoran government reached an agreement with Secretary of State Marco Rubio to allow Washington to outsource migrant detentions.
Tren de Aragua is said to have sprung from Caracas in the early 2010s, rooted in railway infrastructure projects and a growing presence within Venezuelan penitentiaries. Judicial authorities claimed that the organization was dismantled in Venezuela following large-scale operations to eradicate criminal enterprises within prisons in 2022-2023.
Caracas organized several repatriation flights, returning around 600 migrants to the nation. The coordination with Washington has been under question following a recent escalation of economic sanctions against the South American country. Nevertheless, both White House Special Envoy Richard Grenell and Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez confirmed that the flights would resume.
Written by José Luis Granados Ceja in Mexico City, Mexico.
Additional Insights
- The Alien Enemies Act of 1798, originally part of the Federalist-era Alien and Sedition Acts, has raised concerns about its legality, evidentiary standards, and humanitarian impact.
- Judicial Review: The use of the Alien Enemies Act in peacetime and its implementation during the Trump administration are being scrutinized by ongoing cases in Texas and Colorado.
- Threshold for Detention: The Act requires officers to have only a “reasonable belief” that individuals meet four criteria, with no requirement for criminal charges or convictions.
- Lack of Transparency: Government attorneys admit many detainees lack criminal records, leading critics to argue that the administration is weaponizing the law to bypass immigration courts.
- Despite Venezuelan authorities' pledge to engage multilateral instances to protect their migrants' rights, the Trump Administration profiled Venezuelan migrants, Sendiing a stern declaration accusing the Tren de Aragua (TdA) of conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States.
- The US President's claims that TdA is "perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against [US] territory" led to the enactment of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which determines that all Venezuelans aged 14 and over who are deemed members of Tren de Aragua can be detained and deported as "Alien Enemies."
- The lawsuit contesting the Alien Enemies Act, initiated by Democracy Forward and the ACLU, highlighted that the Trump Administration was seeking "extraordinary wartime powers in the absence of a war" and used it to authorize summary deportations, including to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
- Critics allege that this discourse conflating all Venezuelan aliens with the Tren de Aragua aims to restrict, rather than protect, general-news coverage reveals, as it criminalizes migrants without sufficient evidence or adherence to due process.
