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One of the first actions taken following the foundation of the US State Dept designating several cartels and criminal organizations as foreign terrorists was announced in an Executive Action by US President Donald Trump.
Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 Saturday to target the designated foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA) just hours after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled the law could not be used to deport five Venezuelans.
This follows of the heels of 29 Mexican cartel traffickers being expelled from Mexico to the US who had long requested many of their extraditions. 6 cartels were designated as FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organizations) alongside TdA and MS-13 last month. Several of those ‘extradited’ were members of cartels not designated by the US State Department.
The following details are from a cross section of news outlets and government press releases.
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TdA Proclamation
Judge Blocks Order
Judge James E. Boasberg said at a hearing on Saturday that he intended to issue a broad temporary order preventing the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport any “noncitizens in U.S. custody.”
He said that the terms “invasion” and “predatory incursion” in the law “really relate to hostile acts perpetrated by enemy nations.”
2 Flights of Gang Members
Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, said in an interview that he believed two flights carrying Venezuelan immigrants out of the country under President Trump’s order were “in the air” on Saturday evening.
Venezuela’s Narco State
The Treasury Department designated El Aissami a specially designated narcotics trafficker under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, and he remains a U.S. fugitive.
In 2020, Maduro and other regime members were charged with narcoterrorism and other crimes in an alleged “plot against America.” A failed coup attempt in Venezuela was believed to have been aided by or organized with CIA support.
Over the years, Venezuelan national and local authorities have ceded ever-greater control over their territories to transnational criminal organizations, including TdA. The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a substantial danger to the United States. Indeed, in December 2024, INTERPOL Washington confirmed: “Tren de Aragua has emerged as a significant threat to the United States as it infiltrates migration flows from Venezuela.” Evidence irrefutably demonstrates that TdA has invaded the United States and continues to invade, attempt to invade, and threaten to invade the country; perpetrated irregular warfare within the country; and used drug trafficking as a weapon against our citizens.
Based upon a review of TdA’s activities, and in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, on February 20, 2025, acting pursuant to the authority in 8 U.S.C. 1189, the Secretary of State designated TdA as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
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Alien Enemies Act of 1798
With invoking the act, Trump stated:
I direct that all Alien Enemies described in section 1 of this proclamation are subject to immediate apprehension, detention, and removal, and further that they shall not be permitted residence in the United States.
All executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall collaborate with law enforcement officials of the United States and with appropriate State, local, and tribal officials, to use all lawful means to apprehend, restrain, secure, and remove Alien Enemies described in section 1 of this proclamation.
No Alien Enemy described in section 1 of this proclamation shall enter, attempt to enter, or be found within any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Any such Alien Enemy who enters, attempts to enter, or is found within such territory shall be immediately apprehended and detained until removed from the United States. All such Alien Enemies, wherever found within any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, are subject to summary apprehension.
Alien Enemies apprehended pursuant to this proclamation shall be subject to detention until removed from the United States in such place of detention as may be directed by the officers responsible for the execution of these regulations.
Alien Enemies shall be subject to removal to any such location as may be directed by the officers responsible for the execution of these regulations consistent with applicable law.
All property in the possession of, or traceable to, an Alien Enemy, which is used, intended to be used, or is commonly used to perpetrate the hostile activity and irregular warfare of TdA, along with evidence of such hostile activity and irregular warfare, shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture.
Sources White House, NPR, Reuters, NY Times, Fox News, X