The Alien Enemies Act is an old wartime law from 1798, originally meant to let the U.S. government detain, relocate, or deport people from countries we were at war with. It has been used in the past, most notoriously during World War II, when Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps. Now, Trump wants to use this law to mass deport undocumented immigrants, especially targeting Venezuelans. But let’s be clear—this is not about national security. This is about power, xenophobia, and reviving one of America’s worst historical mistakes.
A Lesson from History:
Japanese Internment from the Alien Enemies Act
During WWII, the U.S. government rounded up 120,000 Japanese Americans, claiming they were a threat. They were forced into internment camps, stripped of their homes, businesses, and savings. Most were U.S. citizens.
The economic devastation was brutal—Japanese American families lost over $400 million in today’s money. Entire communities were erased overnight.
But the impact extended beyond those taken. The forced removal of Japanese Americans was a terrifying moment for other communities of color, particularly in cities like Los Angeles.
In my Uncle Arthur Eppley’s book, he recounts a chilling story from his youth.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Arthur was a Mexican Pachuco, born in the United States, who later became a Marine Corps Colonel. He remembers attending a Japanese-owned church with his family, and when Japanese families started disappearing, it unnerved the entire community. The xenophobia was suffocating. He recalled seeing Chinese Americans sewing and pinning identifiers onto their shirts, desperately trying to prove they weren’t Japanese in hopes of avoiding being swept away in the hysteria.
This wasn’t just an attack on Japanese Americans; it was a warning shot to every minority group in the country. If the government could strip an entire community of their homes, businesses, and rights overnight, who was next?
Fast forward to 1988, the U.S. admitted it was wrong – BY A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT. Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act, issuing a formal apology and $20,000 in reparations to each surviving internee. By then, only 82,000 people were still alive to receive it, and many families never got a dime.
So, let’s just say the quiet part out loud: If the U.S. apologized for doing this before, why the hell would we do it again?
“Yet we must recognize that the internment of Japanese-Americans was just that: a mistake.” – republican President ronald reagan at the signing of the civil liberties act in 1988
The Long-Term Damage of the Alien Enemies Act
If history has taught us anything, it’s that mass deportations and detentions don’t just harm the people being removed—they wreck the entire economy.
Mass Deportation Costs: Kicking out 5 million people could cost $625 billion (about $125,000 per person). Expanding this to all undocumented people? That’s a $1.375 trillion disaster.
- Labor Impact: The industries relying on immigrant labor—agriculture, hospitality, construction, healthcare—would collapse overnight.
- Internment Camps, Again?: WWII internment cost millions (about $400 million today). Imagine what it would cost to hold millions of people in modern-day detention centers.
- Public Services Would Suffer: If the government spends trillions on deportations, guess what? Taxes will go up, or vital programs like education and healthcare will be gutted.
- Government Instability & Job Cuts: The U.S. government has already cut tens of thousands of jobs, deeming them “non-essential” without clear plans for how to handle their absence. This has thrown agencies into chaos. How is the government supposed to manage a multi-trillion-dollar deportation effort when it can’t even staff basic operations?
- Where’s the Money Coming From?: If this actually happens, where is the government going to pull $1.375 trillion from? What gets sacrificed? Public services? Infrastructure? Social Security? So far, no one in Trump’s camp has explained how this would be funded.
“Think of that, 1798…Yeah, that’s a long time ago, right? To target and dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil.” – President donald j. trump
What Else Could That Money Do?
Let’s put this in perspective: instead of spending trillions on mass deportations, that money could be used to actually invest in America. For the cost of mass deporting one million people per year for 10 years, the U.S. could:
- Build over 40,450 new elementary schools across the nation.
- Construct over 2.9 million new homes to help address the housing crisis.
- Fund the Head Start program for nearly 79 years.
- Pay full tuition and expenses for over 8.9 million students to attend in-state public colleges for four years.
- Buy a brand-new car for over 20.4 million people.
And that’s just one year of a million-deportation regime. The $88 billion annual cost would be nearly twice the budget of the National Institutes of Health, nearly four times the budget of NASA, and three times more than the federal government spends on child nutrition programs. Imagine what could be done with that money instead of fueling mass deportation efforts.
“We will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail or kick them out of our country.” – president Donald j. Trump
The Crime Myth: Immigrants Are Not the Problem
We Don’t Need to Spend Money on the Alien Enemies Act
Let’s set the record straight: Most criminals in America are not immigrants. In fact, multiple studies show that undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than native-born Americans.
- In Texas, between 2012 and 2018, undocumented immigrants were half as likely to be arrested for violent crimes compared to U.S.-born citizens.
- A National Institute of Justice study confirms that immigrants statistically pose lower crime rates than American-born citizens.
- The narrative that immigrants—especially undocumented ones—are responsible for America’s crime problems is not supported by facts.
Yet, Trump and his allies use fear-mongering to push mass deportation policies. Instead of dealing with actual crime—like domestic terrorism, corporate fraud, or the opioid crisis—they target people who statistically commit fewer crimes than the general population. That’s not public safety. That’s scapegoating.
And apparently, if they’re not rapists and murderers, they’re smuggling drugs. So, let’s talk about one of the biggest actual crime crises in America—fentanyl. Politicians love to blame “the border” and immigrants for fentanyl flooding the country, but here’s the reality: over 90% of fentanyl seizures happen at legal ports of entry, hidden in commercial trucks and passenger vehicles—not in the desert or on migrant routes.
Citizenship status of defendants convicted of fentanyl drug trafficking, 2018-2021
And who’s smuggling it? U.S. citizens. In fact, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s data, 86.3% of convicted fentanyl traffickers in 2021 were American citizens, according to U.S. Sentencing Commission data. And they’re not smuggling it for undocumented immigrants—they’re smuggling it for other Americans. Shutting down the border won’t stop it, because traffickers use airports, mail shipments, and legal crossings to move their product. But instead of investing in high-tech inspections and stopping fentanyl at the source, leaders like Trump choose to push mass deportations—policies that won’t actually fix the drug crisis but will feed anti-immigrant hysteria.
“We are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl,” president donald j. Trump in his address to congress, March 4, 2025
The Political Weaponization of Deportation:
Mahmoud Khalil and the Navalny Parallels
This isn’t just about undocumented immigrants and it doesn’t even tie back to the Alien Enemies Act. The government is already using deportation to silence political voices it doesn’t like. Case in point: Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student, is facing deportation after protesting against Israel’s actions in Gaza. He’s a legal permanent resident, married to a U.S. citizen, yet the government is still trying to kick him out.
- Khalil was arrested and detained in Louisiana, far from his home and legal team.
- A federal judge blocked his deportation for now, but his case shows how the U.S. can weaponize immigration enforcement to target political dissenters.
- This echoes how Putin silences critics like Alexei Navalny, using legal loopholes to detain or remove political threats.
If Trump—or any administration—can strip legal residents of their rights simply for protesting, then who’s next? This is not just about border security—it’s about using the government’s power to erase voices that challenge authority.
“The continued presence of a large, unassimilated, tightly knit racial group bound to an enemy nation by strong ties of race, culture, custom and religion along a frontier vulnerable to attack constitutes a menace which should be dealt with”— Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a letter to Henry Stimson (Secretary of War) on February 14, 1942
Why Conservatives Support This
While not all conservatives are on board, those who support this plan argue:
- National Security: They claim gangs like Tren de Aragua are flooding the country and mass deportation is the only way to stop them.
- Border Control: The argument is that using the Alien Enemies Act avoids bureaucracy and allows immediate action.
- Law & Order Narrative: Conservatives often push the idea that undocumented immigrants cause crime. (This is false—immigrants actually have lower crime rates than native-born Americans.)
- Trump’s Base Loves It: Let’s be real—Trump’s base eats this up because it looks like “strong leadership” to them.
The biggest issue? This would throw out due process. It assumes people are gang members without trials or evidence. That’s xenophobia, not justice.
“Yeah, look. If you’re a criminal alien, no, you can’t stay. If you’re someone that hasn’t been here for a very long time, you can’t stay.” –Secretary of state, marco rubio, January 17 interview on “Meet the Press”
The Liberal Perspective
Liberals (and, frankly, most reasonable people) oppose this for several factual reasons:
- It’s Racist and Xenophobic: Mass deportations based on nationality have historically been used to target marginalized groups.
- It’s Illegal: Even if the Alien Enemies Act exists, using it outside a declared war would face massive legal challenges.
- It’s an Economic Disaster: Deporting millions would be crippling to the U.S. economy.
- It’s a Violation of Human Rights: The United Nations would likely condemn this as a human rights violation.
- There’s No Plan: Even if the government attempted this, it would collapse under its own weight. The infrastructure to carry out something on this scale does not exist. With government staffing already in freefall, who exactly is going to manage this catastrophe?
At the end of the day, this isn’t about immigration. It’s about setting a dangerous precedent.
“The United States is not being invaded, it is not at war with migrants, and you must uphold our duly-enacted immigration laws,” wrote Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Alex Padilla of California, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Pramila Jayapal of Washington.
Conclusion: This is a Racist, Xenophobic, and Morally Bankrupt Idea
America has done this before. It ruined lives, destroyed communities, and tarnished our reputation on the world stage. And guess what? We apologized because we knew it was wrong.
Bringing it back now? It’s not just a bad idea. It’s a terrible, racist, authoritarian, historically ignorant fucking nightmare. People are not cattle to be rounded up, detained, and deported.
If this country wants to repeat the darkest moments of its past and put The Alien Enemies Act back in place, we need to fight like hell to stop it.
SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Liberties_Act_of_1988
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU01/20250122/117827/HHRG-119-JU01-20250122-SD004.pdf
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/mass-deportation
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-is-alien-enemies-act-1798-that-trump-wants-use-deportations-2025-02-03/
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