Things are getting real now: On Saturday, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act, specifically mentioning the “Invasion of the United States by Tren de Aragua (TdA).” Part of the argument for this move is the administration’s designation of TdA as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and its affiliation with the Venezuelan government. This is a move with far-reaching implications.
President Trump’s order reads in part:
Tren de Aragua (TdA) is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization with thousands of members, many of whom have unlawfully infiltrated the United States and are conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States. TdA operates in conjunction with Cártel de los Soles, the Nicolas Maduro regime-sponsored, narco-terrorism enterprise based in Venezuela, and commits brutal crimes, including murders, kidnappings, extortions, and human, drug, and weapons trafficking. TdA has engaged in and continues to engage in mass illegal migration to the United States to further its objectives of harming United States citizens, undermining public safety, and supporting the Maduro regime’s goal of destabilizing democratic nations in the Americas, including the United States.
TdA is closely aligned with, and indeed has infiltrated, the Maduro regime, including its military and law enforcement apparatus. TdA grew significantly while Tareck El Aissami served as governor of Aragua between 2012 and 2017. In 2017, El Aissami was appointed as Vice President of Venezuela. Soon thereafter, the United States Department of the Treasury designated El Aissami as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, 21 U.S.C. 1901 et seq. El Aissami is currently a United States fugitive facing charges arising from his violations of United States sanctions triggered by his Department of the Treasury designation.
This move (which is sure to be challenged in court) gives the Trump administration sweeping powers to apprehend Tren de Aragua members anywhere in the United States and repatriate them – or presumably detain them if Venezuela once more refuses repatriation flights.
I find and declare that TdA is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States. TdA is undertaking hostile actions and conducting irregular warfare against the territory of the United States both directly and at the direction, clandestine or otherwise, of the Maduro regime in Venezuela. I make these findings using the full extent of my authority to conduct the Nation’s foreign affairs under the Constitution. Based on these findings, and by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including 50 U.S.C. 21, I proclaim that all Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of TdA, are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies. I further find and declare that all such members of TdA are, by virtue of their membership in that organization, chargeable with actual hostility against the United States and are therefore ineligible for the benefits of 50 U.S.C. 22. I further find and declare that all such members of TdA are a danger to the public peace or safety of the United States.
Interestingly, this move is limited to Tren de Aragua; it may well be a test case to see if this first measure stands up to the inevitable challenges.
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There can be little doubt that Tren de Aragua represents, to put it bluntly, a clear and present danger to the citizens of the United States. The list of crimes committed by TdA members in the country illegally is long; American families have suffered enough from the presence of these criminal aliens.
President Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act has been anticipated for some time, and if this first designation survives court challenges, it may open the door for more such orders naming groups like MS-13. Passed in 1798, the Alien Enemies Act gives the president broad powers in the apprehension and removal of designated enemy aliens from the country. Until now, the Act was only invoked in wartime; the last time a president invoked the Act was in World War 2.
You can view the Alien and Sedition Acts, of which the Alien Enemies Act is part, here.
This is a developing story. We will update you as events warrant.
UPDATE: As we hinted, a D.C. judge has already moved to block the Trump administration on this:
NEWS: Judge Boasberg, chief federal district judge in DC, has abruptly blocked an anticipated effort by President Trump to use an invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to remove Venezuelan nationals.
He set a hearing for this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/RBWri3HPzq
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) March 15, 2025
Donald Trump is taking the fight to the enemy after Joe Biden sat on his hands for four years.
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