Expert: As Yet, No "Declaration of War" Against Immigrants

CBC, Nov. 15, 2024

"Trump, in order to carry out mass deportations, may seek to circumvent the system by invoking the Alien Enemies Act, which was enacted when the U.S. and France were on the verge of war in the late 1700s. ... "If Trump were to try to use the normal procedures, it would [be to] round up a lot of people and put them into immigration court proceedings," said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law at Cornell University. "But it would be a long time before they could actually be deported." ... Trump and others have for years been trying to characterize unlawful migration and cartel activity at the southern border as an "invasion." "They're saying, 'Well, because there's an invasion at the southern border, we can invoke the Alien Enemies Act against the perpetrators of that invasion. Then we can unlock that massive power to do summary detentions and deportations.'" [Katherine Yon Ebright, counsel for the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Program] told CBC News. But she says the Brennan Center and other organizations are prepared to challenge Trump in court if he invokes the act, and would argue that it's being improperly invoked. "There, in fact, is no invasion within the meaning of the law," she said. "There is no foreign nation or government that is perpetrating this supposed invasion," she said, adding that gangs, cartels or undocumented migrants shouldn't be considered foreign nations or governments. Yale-Loehr echoes that, currently, the U.S. has not made any declaration of war against immigrants and that Trump would have to, by analogy, say that trying to deport immigrants is akin to war."