Venezuelan migrants wait to cross border at the Binational Border Service Center of Peru, on the border with Ecuador, in Tumbes, Peru on Oct. 31, 2018. Photo: Sebastian Castaneda/Reuters.
On Saturday, the Trump administration invoked an old act that allows for summary and mass deportations.
On Sunday, Cuba rejected the decision of the U.S. government to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 against Venezuelan migrants.
“We reject the unprecedented invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 under false pretenses by the US government to escalate its policy of hostility against the government and people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” wrote Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on social media.
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to accelerate the mass deportations of Venezuelans allegedly linked to the Aragua Train, a criminal gang that Venezuelan authorities dismantled some time ago.
Trump stated that the Aragua Train “is carrying out hostile actions and a war against US territory.” He also declared that all members of that group, by virtue of their membership, are accused of real hostility against the US and pose a threat to public peace and national security.
The text reads, “A confession of the parties: Find out who is responsible for the abuse of Venezuelans deported by Trump to El Salvador. It is the so-called ‘USAID Train,’ led by far-right extremists Maria Corina Machado, Juan Guaido, and Leopoldo Lopez.”
Venezuela Condemns Washington’s Criminalization of Venezuelan Migrants
His decision establishes that all Venezuelans over the age of 14, who are allegedly linked to the Aragua Train and who are not naturalized or legal permanent residents, are subject to being detained, held, and expelled as enemy aliens.
The Alien Enemies Act has not been invoked in the US. since World War II, when it was used to detain Japanese Americans in one of the darkest episodes of contemporary racism. This law allows for deportations without a hearing. To date, the 1798 law has only been invoked on three occasions in US history: the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II.
After the decision was announced on Saturday, federal judge James Boasberg blocked the use of the law for 14 days or until further notice, ordering that any plane carrying deportees that was about to take off or already in the air must return to the United States.
On Sunday, however, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that, under the Alien Enemies Act, authorities had already sent more than 250 people considered members of the Aragua Train to El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele has offered to imprison the migrants deported from the US.
(Telesur)
