Lessons on the history of US Immigration Policy #7: Trump and the use of the Alien Enemies Act

So far in this series on lessons on the history of US Immigration Policy, I have looked at the question – Is the US a Nation of Immigrants in Part I; how anti-immigration policies in the US are bipartisan in Part II; the dominant narrative around how we talk about immigrants in Part III; and an investigation into the root causes of people migrating to the US, especially those coming from Latin America, in Part IV. In Part V, I looked at false narratives about immigrants and the importance of creating counter-narrative. In Part VI, I want to look at how US immigration policy has historically been grounded in a white supremacy framework.

In today’s post, I want to look at President Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act and what people are being targeted by ICE with the 227 year old policy. In 1798, Hamilton joined other Federalists in supporting the very first anti-immigration laws, the Alien and Sedition Acts, promulgated by President John Adams. These statutes increased from five to fourteen the years of residency required for new immigrants to become eligible for citizenship and empowered the president to deport or detain anyone deemed “dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States.”

Radical historian Howard Zinn says that part of the reason why the US government adopted the Alien Enemies Act and the Sedition Act was related to the French Revolution (1789 – 1799). Zinn says that French immigrants to the US were suspected of being sympathizers of their revolution back home and spreading revolutionary ideas here. 

The Brennen Center says that the Alien Enemies Act has been invoked three times, each time during a major conflict: the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II. In World Wars I and II, the law was a key authority behind detentions, expulsions, and restrictions targeting German, Austro-Hungarian, Japanese, and Italian immigrants based solely on their ancestry.

However, there have been other instances when the Alien Enemy Act has been used to justify targeting people who questioned the US government. During WWI, there was a crackdown against political dissidents, especially those that were critical of the US involvement in that war. As I wrote in my book, A People’s History of Grand Rapids: 

The Espionage Act was passed in 1917 as a means to silence and punish those who spoke out against the US entry into World War I. However, as radical historian Howard Zinn points out, these laws were not applied equally and were meant to target dissidents during WWI, particularly radical labor organizers, socialists and anarchists. Some of those arrested for opposing the US entry into WWI were arrested and jailed, while others were arrested and deported.

The level of contempt that the US government held against radicals involved in labor organizing and anti-WWI activities eventually led to the Palmer Raids (1919-1920) as a justification for “cleansing” the US of radical leftists, socialists and anarchists.

According to Christopher Finan’s book, From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act, there were over 6,000 people arrested across 36 cities during the Palmer Raids. Finan also states that there were 556 foreign citizens were deported, including a number of prominent leftist leaders.

The other major omission from the Brennen Center regarding the use of the Alien Enemies Act, has to do with the US government’s response to September 11, 2001. The US Patriot Act is one of the most repressive acts adopted, which was supported by both Republicans and Democrats. The Patriot Act was an extension of the Alien Enemies Act, in that it provided the US government a pretext to arrest, detain and deport people suspected as terrorism. Thousands of Arab and Muslim residents in the US were rounded up, questioned and many of them were held for long periods of time without being charged with any crimes. 

This brings us to the present, where the Trump Administration is invoking the Alien Enemies Act as a justification for targeting people who are critical of US policy and using Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to make the arrests. It is important that we come to terms with this history and avoid claims that the Trump Administration is the most repressive, when in fact, the Trump Administration is just the latest to use repressive measures against US citizens and foreign nationals residing in the US. 

If your organization is interested in a presentation on the History of US Immigration Policy, please contact me at sjeff987@gmail.com.