DUBUQUE, Iowa — Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that if re-elected, he would “immediately” invoke a federal law granting himself the unilateral power to detain and deport non-citizens in the United States who are older than 14 years old.— part of the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 — to target suspected gang members, drug dealers and cartel members.
Trump put forward his proposal in a speech intended to outline what would amount to his second-term immigration policy — one that foreshadows a greater use of executive branch powers and law enforcement resources, which the president could have a greater hand in directing. The Alien Enemies Act — meant to be a wartime measure — was notably used during World War II. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt invoked it following the bombing of Pearl Harbor tothe government observation and detention of thousands of Japanese, German and Italian nationals.
On Wednesday, Trump said that he would expand his travel ban to “deny entry to all communists and Marxists to the United States.” The Republican front-runner provided no details or parameters for such a proposal.