This is Civics 101. I'm Hannah McCarthy.

I'm Christina Phillips. And today we are talking about the Trump administration's use of the Alien

Enemies Act. Last week, we did an episode on what the Alien Enemies Act is and how it's been

used throughout history. And if you haven't listened to that one, please go

back and listen to it before listening to this episode, because it lays the groundwork for what we're

talking about today. And of course, I have linked it in the show notes. But to give us a quick recap,

the Alien Enemies Act is a wartime law that was passed in 1798.

It allows the president during war, invasion, or predatory incursion by an enemy nation to detain and deport anyone 14 years of age or older from that enemy nation who is not a U.S. citizen.

Predatory incursion, by the way, is not defined by that act, but it is a term that was used

during that era to describe, for example, a raid on Virginia by super infamous defector

Benedict Arnold.

And this act, Christina, has not been invoked all that much.

No, it hasn't.

It's only been invoked four times. In the war of 1812,

World War I and two, and now in 2025, through a proclamation by President Donald Trump in March.

Now, we know the Alien Enemies Act does not give the president the right to detain or deport anyone

who is a non-citizen. it has to apply to people from a specific

country. Specifically, those countries engaging in war invasion or predatory incursion,

like we said. So, Christina, who are those people in this case? So the Trump administration is using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan citizens and nationals in the United States, who the administration claims are members of Trend de Aragua, a gang, also known as TDA.

You'll see crime all over the country dry up. Essentially, that's what Venezuela and other countries are doing.

They're getting rid of their criminals and putting them into the United States of America.

And actually, I think we should just read part of the executive order, which is called the

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