Washington, Mar 17 (UNI) More than half of the 261 immigrants deported to El Salvador on Saturday were removed from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime powers statute, the Washington Post has reported citing a White House official.

US President Donald Trump secretly signed a proclamation on Friday invoking the Alien Enemies Act to target Venezuelans aged 14 and over who are suspected to be members of the transnational gang Tren de Aragua.

A White House official told the Post on the condition of anonymity that 137 individuals had been deported to El Salvador under this proclamation. The rest, including 23 Salvadorans linked to the MS-13 gang and 101 additional Venezuelans, were removed under other federal laws.

The proclamation effectively stripped the Venezuelans of their right to due process, bypassing standard immigration procedures. Critics argue that the move sets a dangerous precedent, as the act was originally intended to address threats from citizens of hostile nations during wartime, rather than to expedite deportations during peacetime.

The Alien Enemies Act was last used during World War II to justify the internment of over 110,000 Japanese Americans. It has has been invoked only three times in US history — each during a declared war. Trump’s decision to invoke this wartime power to deport alleged gang members without immigration court hearings has drawn sharp criticism from immigration experts, legal scholars and human rights advocates.

Trump pledged in his inauguration speech on January 20 to immediately stop the penetration of undocumented migrants into the US and begin the process of deporting millions of them back to their countries of origin. Trump also declared a national state of emergency in response to the crisis on the southern border.

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