Professor of Law Emeritus William C. Banks provided historical background for an article on the Alien Enemies Act in The Telegraph. President Trump has indicated the law’s use for the deportation of immigrants.
For Banks, using the act sent a powerful message to voters.
“The language of the legislation uses the term invasion, and another term, predatory incursion,” he told The Telegraph
“That sounds like language that strikes fear into the hearts of Americans and so on. So it served a very powerful rhetorical purpose when he gave his inaugural address on January 20, and then in a series of executive orders that he promulgated on that day and then several days afterwards,” he said.
“Legally, it has almost certainly no application to the circumstances that the United States now finds itself in. It was written, as you probably have learnt, in the 1790s in anticipation of what was feared to be a coming war with France,” said Banks.