SILVER SPRING, Maryland – On March 15, 2025, President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 regarding the Venezuelan organization Tren de Aragua in order to exercise extraordinary wartime powers to enhance his mass deportation efforts in the United States. The law allows the administration to forgo many due process requirements such as court hearings and asylum interviews in order to rapidly deport noncitizens suspected of cooperation with Tren de Aragua. Following the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the administration from removing any immigrants under this Act for a period of fourteen days. Disturbingly, there are indications that the administration may have ignored parts of the court's order and continued to carry out such deportations.

"CLINIC is deeply alarmed by the misuse of this obscure law to strip immigrants suspected of gang activity of due process," said Anna Gallagher, CLINIC's executive director. "We all want safe communities, but this is an unjust and unnecessary abuse of power. The United States is not at war, and this policy will undoubtedly harm innocent people by denying them basic legal rights. As Catholics, we must raise our voices to protect legal rights which uphold the dignity of all people."

Historic use of the law has led to serious rights abuses, including Japanese internment during World War II, when thousands of innocent people were detained indefinitely by the U.S. government on the basis of their ancestry or nation of origin.

"Due process rights such as court hearings and asylum interviews are vital steps in the immigration process to ensure that our laws are being upheld fairly and correctly," said Karen Sullivan, CLINIC's director of advocacy. "Without these protections, individuals seeking safety could be denied a fair chance to present their cases, resulting in unjust deportations and family separations. Stripping due process not only undermines fundamental legal principles but also threatens the integrity of our immigration system. We must ensure that every person is given a fair and just opportunity to seek protection under the law."

Pope Francis recently wrote that the "development [of orderly migration policy] cannot come about through the privilege of some and the sacrifice of others. What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly."

CLINIC urges the administration to abandon this dangerous and illegal course of action and instead uphold the principles of justice, fairness, and human dignity that are the foundation of our nation's legal system. We call on people of faith and conscience to speak out against policies that deny due process.