A directive issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi instructed ICE officials to break into the houses of the “aliens” without any warrant as “alien enemies” are not entitled to a hearing, appeal or judicial review. The memo was issued on March 14 after the Donald Trump administration implemented the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to kick the members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua out of the country.
On March 15, immigration officials apprehended and flew more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador’s notorious prison. The action drew flak, judicial criticism with several lawsuits claiming that not all of them were gang members.
USA TODAY got access to the memo through the open government group Property of the People. The instruction was clear: front-line officers who are tasked with the duty to apprehend suspected gang members should obtain a warrant as much as practicable but a lack of it should not be a deterrent.
The memo told law enforcement that immigrants deemed “Alien Enemies” are “not entitled to a hearing, appeal or judicial review.”
“Given the dynamic nature of enforcement operations, officers in the field are authorized to apprehend aliens upon a reasonable belief that the alien meets all four requirements to be validated as an alien enemy,” it read.
It added: “This authority includes entering an alien enemy’s residence to make an [Aliens Enemies Act] apprehension where circumstances render it impracticable to first obtain a signed notice and warrant of apprehension and removal.”
The memo also had a copy of the Alien Enemy Validation Guide attached to it, providing a point system for determining if a person is part of the Venezuelan gang and therefore subject to removal.
The Alien Enemies Act can only be invoked when there is a “declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government” or an “invasion or predatory incursion … perpetrated, attempted, or threatened” against the country by a foreign nation.
