Trump Uses (Misuses) 1798 Law

The Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) are understood now to be a low moment in our history. The one generally reasonable component was the Alien Enemy Act, which is the one part still active:

[W]henever there shall be a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion shall be perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States by any foreign nation or government, . . . all natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or government, being males of the age of fourteen years and upwards, who shall be within the United States, and not actually naturalized, shall be liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and removed, as alien enemies.

The provision might be used too broadly, but it has a limited reach related to warfare. It was passed to address the Quasi-War with France. It is not there to deal with gangs, even if they are really bad gangs. 

Consider the headline to this Washington Post article:

Trump sends more than 200 alleged gang members to prison in El Salvador

The administration won’t identify those moved — or say whether the Alien Enemies Act, which briefly sped up some deportations, played any role.

Two hundred "alleged" gang members? Trust them!

The Justice Department has said that most, if not all, were serious criminals, but they did not release their names to publicly so that claim could be independently verified. Some of the gang members deported were members of the MS-13 gang tied to El Salvador, and the proclamation Friday does not appear to include them.

The Administration continues to cut corners:

The high-profile actions make it clear that the administration will deploy force and fright to remove immigrants from the United States, even if they have to devise extraordinary new ways to do it, such as sending them to a country that is not their home country and putting them in jail. 

The White House’s online mocking of the judicial order by the chief federal judge in Washington added to the concern among advocates that Trump’s determination to carry out the largest mass deportation campaign in U.S. history would sidestep legal and humanitarian norms.

As to that last part:

Human Rights Watch has documented torture, forced disappearances and a lack of legal recourse in Salvadoran prisons, as well as poor access to food and water. The organization has reported instances in which inmates are systematically beaten and forced to confess that they are members of gangs, according to Juan Pappier, Americas deputy director for the group.

The Declaration of Independence announced the establishment of an independent country with all of the powers we "may of right do." Human rights are national obligations. Meanwhile, the Voice of America is the latest institution on the chopping block. 

And, yes, the Senate Democrats need new leadership.