Durbin, Padilla, Booker, Welch Statement On Trump Invoking The Alien Enemies Act To Target Immigrants Without Due Process

SPRINGFIELD – Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Peter Welch (D-VT) issued the following statement after President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, claiming wartime power to deport noncitizens without due process:

“Over the weekend, President Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport noncitizens without due process. This attempt to use an archaic wartime law—not used since World War II—for immigration enforcement is yet another unlawful and brazen power grab.

“Let’s be clear: we are not at war, and immigrants are not invading our country. Furthermore, courts determine whether people have broken the law—not a president acting alone, and not immigration agents picking and choosing who gets imprisoned or deported. It’s what our Constitution demands, and it’s the law Trump is bound by no matter how much he tries to mislead the American people otherwise. These protections are there to help ensure U.S. citizens aren’t wrongfully deported, or people who haven’t committed a crime aren’t wrongfully punished.

“A District Court issued a temporary restraining order to block the Administration’s use of this wartime law, and ordered deportation flights already underway to return to the U.S. We cannot allow Trump to flout the rules and due process.

“All of us, including the courts, must continue to hold this Administration accountable, and prevent the Trump Administration from taking us down a dark and dangerous road.”

Last week, Durbin led a group of Democratic immigration leaders in challenging the constitutional basis of President Trump’s sham “invasion” proclamation, which the President has argued would allow his Administration to circumvent domestic immigration law.

Earlier this year, Durbin cosponsored the Neighbors Not Enemies Act, legislation that would repeal the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

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