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Trump Administration Uses 1798 Alien Enemies Act, Prompting Deaths at Fort Bliss Detention Center

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Trump Invokes Historic Alien Enemies Act to Deport Venezuelans President Donald Trump’s second‑term administration invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act—originally used against Japanese nationals during World War II—to accelerate deportations of Venezuelan migrants he labeled “gang members invading the U.S.”; a federal appeals court later ruled the use unlawful, highlighting unprecedented legal stretching of a wartime statute [1]. The policy shift occurred amid a broader immigration crackdown that has drawn intense scrutiny from civil‑rights groups and lawmakers [1]. Survivors of WWII Japanese internment argue the act’s revival mirrors past racial hysteria and threatens due‑process protections [1].

Fort Bliss Detention Center Experiences Fatalities Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, now hosts Camp East Montana, one of the nation’s largest immigration detention facilities, after being repurposed from a WWII Japanese‑American camp [1]. At least three detainees have died in custody over the past two months, prompting calls for investigations into medical care and conditions at the site [1]. The deaths have intensified comparisons to historical internment camps and raised questions about oversight of modern detention practices [1].

Japanese American Survivors Draw Direct Parallels to Current Raids Eighty‑six‑year‑old John Tateishi, a Manzanar survivor, and 81‑year‑old Satsuki Ina, born at Tule Lake, recount “profound” similarities between their wartime experiences and today’s mass removals, emphasizing criminalization by race, forced home removals, and lack of due process [1]. Both survivors stress that the current crackdown echoes the paranoia that led to the incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor [1]. Their testimonies fuel ongoing protests demanding policy reversal and greater protections for migrants [1].

Japanese American Citizens League Condemns Fort Bliss Detention The Japanese American Citizens League issued a statement calling the repurposing of Fort Bliss “a disgrace to the memory and legacy of the more than 125,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans unjustly imprisoned during World II” [1]. The league urges the federal government to halt the use of historic sites for mass detention and to honor the reparative intent of past civil‑rights legislation [1]. Their condemnation adds a prominent civil‑rights voice to the growing opposition against the Trump administration’s immigration tactics [1].

1988 Civil Liberties Act Reparations Threatened by New Policies The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 granted each Japanese American internee $20,000 as acknowledgment of “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership” [1]. Survivors now fear that the current immigration crackdown undermines the progress achieved by that legislation, potentially eroding public memory of past injustices [1]. Activists warn that without vigilance, the reparative gains of 1988 could be reversed by contemporary policies targeting migrants based on ethnicity [1].

Sources

Timeline

1942‑1945 – During World II the U.S. incarcerates over 120,000 Japanese Americans in internment camps, a precedent later cited by critics of today’s mass detention policies [2].

1988 – Congress passes the Civil Liberties Act, granting each Japanese American internee $20,000 in reparations and acknowledging “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership,” a settlement now invoked by activists fearing erosion of immigrant protections [2].

1798 – The Alien Enemies Act is enacted, giving the federal government sweeping powers to detain and deport nationals of hostile nations; the Trump administration revives it in 2025 to target Venezuelan migrants [2].

2021 – Operation Allies Welcome begins, resettling roughly 190,000 Afghan allies in the United States after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan [1][5][7].

Nov 26, 2025 – Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal opens fire near the White House, killing Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and wounding Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, prompting a federal investigation and immediate security lockdown in Washington, D.C. [1][14][10].

Nov 27, 2025 – USCIS Director Joseph Edlow posts on X that all asylum decisions are paused until every applicant can be fully vetted, marking the first formal halt of asylum adjudications [12].

Nov 28, 2025 – President Trump announces on Truth Social a “permanent pause” on migration from all “Third World” countries, pledging to revoke legal status for millions and end non‑citizen federal benefits [15][1].

Nov 28, 2025 – The White House launches an interagency probe into the National Guard shooting and directs a broad review of immigration controls, including tighter scrutiny of applicants from 19 designated countries [4].

Nov 28, 2025 – USCIS orders a re‑examination of green cards issued to nationals of 19 countries—including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Somalia, and Venezuela—citing a June proclamation and security concerns [1].

Nov 29, 2025 – The Trump administration officially halts all asylum adjudications and stops issuing visas for Afghan passport holders, citing the Washington shooting as a catalyst for the pause [14].

Nov 30, 2025 – DHS Secretary Kristi Noem appears on Meet the Press and attributes Lakanwal’s radicalization to his U.S. stay, blaming the Biden administration’s vetting failures for the attack [10].

Dec 1, 2025 – The administration reiterates the asylum pause and announces a “full‑scale, rigorous reexamination” of green‑card petitions from the 19 high‑risk countries, while the State Department halts all Afghan visas [13][12].

Dec 2, 2025 – DHS finalizes a biometric entry‑exit rule that will require CBP to photograph, fingerprint, and possibly collect DNA from nearly all non‑U.S. travelers starting Dec 26, 2025, expanding the government’s surveillance capacity [8].

Dec 3, 2025 – ICE and HSI agents arrest Afghan national Jaan Shah Safi in Waynesboro, Virginia, accusing him of ISIS‑K support and weapons supply, marking the latest high‑profile detention of an Afghan ally admitted under Operation Allies Welcome [7].

Dec 9, 2025 – USCIS issues an internal memo confirming an indefinite pause on all Afghan immigration requests, while ICE reports roughly two dozen Afghan arrests—most in Northern California—after the Nov 26 shooting, prompting community leaders to decry collective punishment [3][6][11].

Dec 9, 2025 – Afghan community organizations warn that the pause threatens up to 260,000 Afghans still awaiting U.S. entry and disrupts families who have already begun integration, highlighting the broader humanitarian fallout [3].

Dec 26, 2025 – The DHS biometric rule takes effect, mandating comprehensive traveler data collection at U.S. ports of entry and exit, a policy critics say will exacerbate privacy concerns for migrants [8].

Feb 2026 – Survivors of WWII Japanese internment, including John Tateishi and Satsuki Ina, publicly compare current mass removals and deaths at Fort Bliss’s Camp East Montana to the wartime camps, calling the detention center “a disgrace to the WWII legacy” [2].

Feb 2026 – The Japanese American Citizens League issues a statement denouncing the repurposing of Fort Bliss as an immigration detention site, linking it to the historical injustice of the 1942‑45 internments [2].

Feb 2026 – A federal appeals court rules that the Trump administration’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants is unlawful, curbing one of the administration’s most aggressive deportation tools [2].

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