At a rally on Oct. 11, 2024 in Aurora, Colorado, presidential candidate Donald Trump said that he would “invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target and dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil,” according to National Public Radio (NPR). 

Since I’ve learned about the gravity of his statement, it hasn’t left my mind. What invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 means for undocumented immigrants and their constitutional rights is alarming. 

The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 gives the president the authority to “detain or deport the natives and citizens of an enemy nation,” whenever the U.S. is threatened by an “invasion” or “predatory incursion,” as well as when the country is at war, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

While the law, at first glance, seems to be an effort to curb potential threats, the act compromises the rights of undocumented immigrants. 

There is no due process or jury of their peers. They have no chance to defend themselves. These are rights our founding fathers fought hard for, and evoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 unjustly strips people of these rights.

According to Clearwater Law Group, undocumented immigrants are entitled to the right to due process, meaning they have the right to an attorney and for their case to be heard in a court of law. However, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 would throw these rights out the window, giving the president unconstitutional jurisdiction. 

The Brennan Center for Justice says that by evoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, Trump “could conduct the deportations summarily, without any of the hearings or other process typically accorded to non-citizens in peacetime and under immigration law.”

Naureen Shah, the deputy director of government affairs equality division at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), argues that “Historically, people have been subject to removal under the Act without any fundamental due process safeguards, which makes it ripe for civil liberties abuses.” 

Shah points out again how non-citizens aren’t afforded their constitutional right to due process. She writes, “The Act’s text does not require that noncitizens receive a hearing prior to detention or removal, and the government has read it to provide limited opportunities for administrative or judicial review.”

This is a direct threat to justice and the rights the U.S. has fought to secure. Allotting this kind of power to one person by compromising the rights of civilians is to me, a clear step towards authoritarianism. Centralizing this power to one person instead of upholding constitutional norms and freedoms undermines what democracy stands for. 

Trump said that in evoking the act, it would help “target and dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil,” according to the National Public Radio. However, even in what Trump may consider threatening times, people still have rights and they should be entitled to them no matter their immigration status. 

We have safeguards like due process and checks and balances for a reason. It prevents the U.S. from autocratization and prevents one person from having too much power. It is not something to be tampered with lightly, especially not to give the president this kind of overreaching power. 

In our democracy, it is vital that people’s rights are upheld– not compromised in the name of security.