A Closer Look at Operation Aurora, Trump's Plan That Would Rehash the 'Alien Enemies Act' of 1798

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump held a rally in Aurora, Colorado last Friday, a highly anticipated event as the city has become a symbol for the former's president anti-immigrant rhetoric: During the presidential debate, he falsely claimed that Aurora had been "taken over" by members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Addressing a crowd of thousands, Trump once again portrayed migrants as a significant threat to American communities and criticized the Biden administration's immigration policies, taking special aim at Democratic candidate and current vice president Kamala Harris.

Among the different note-worthy moments, one particular comment made the rounds throughout the weekend as Trump said that, should he be elected, he plans to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as part of his mass deportation initiative.

The law, which has historically been used only during times of war, allows for the expulsion of foreign nationals without due legal process. As a nod to the city, he also vowed to call the plan "Operation Aurora."

According to MSNBC, the law, which formed part of the Alien and Sedition Acts established during the presidency of John Adams, reads:

"Whenever there is a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion is perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States by any foreign nation or government, and the President makes public proclamation of the event, all natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or government, being of the age of fourteen years and upward, who shall be within the United States and not actually naturalized, shall be liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as alien enemies."

In essence, the Alien Enemies Act was designed to allow the president to authorize the relocation, arrest or deportation of any man older than 14 years old who hailed from a country at war with the United States. Since then, the act has been used on three occasions:

1. The first time it was invoked by President James Madison during the War of 1812 against British nationals, forcing them to report information such as their age, length of time in the United States, family description, occupation, and where they lived.
2. It was then invoked by President Woodrow Wilson during World War I against nationals of the Central Powers, which were the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. Back then, 6,000 German and other foreign nationals were placed in internment camps, according to the National Archives.
3. The act was also invoked during World War II when President Franklin Roosevelt used them against Japanese, German and Italian Nationals, which led to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and required foreign nationals from all three countries to register with the government.

It's worth noting that, in 1988, the U.S. Congress and President Ronald Reagan issued an official apology and reparations for internments in World War II, which were carried out without court orders and largely kept from public scrutiny.

Trump promised that, if elected, he would put an end to what he described as an "invasion" of migrants through the southern border by implementing "Operation Aurora". His speech included references to crimes allegedly committed by undocumented individuals, reinforcing claims that they are prone to criminal behavior and promising to use "elite squads" to execute his plan:

"We will send elite squads of ICE, Border Patrol and federal law enforcement officers to arrest and deport every last illegal alien gang member until there is not a single one left in this country."

However, as MSNBC's Jordan Rubin pointed out, there is one major obstacle towards Trump invoking the Alien Enemies Act: the act refers to the concept of "war" and Trump's proposal is not tied to a declared war or an invasion or predatory incursion by another country. As Rubin points out:

"Congress (not the president) has the power to declare war. And while Trump and other politicians have used invasion-type language when talking about immigration, that doesn't turn the actions of people from other countries into actions taken by other countries. It's a wartime law, and there isn't a war."