As the Alien Enemy Act continued to be the focus of immigration debate early in Donald Trump's second term, Republican attorney Mehek Cooke told Fox News about the number of numbers, explaining why the White House used the 1798 law.
Some federal judges disagree with the Trump administration’s decision to use the bill to dispatch suspected MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gang members, including the Cecot prison in El Salvador. Shortly after Trump took office, he designated the two groups as foreign terrorist organizations.
"Under this bill, it enables us to detain, arrest and expel foreign enemies," Cook said.
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U.S. District Court Judges James Boasberg and Presidents Donald Trump. (Getty Image)
She later added: "This immediately allows President Trump and his administration's Foreign Enemy Act to accelerate the deportation of Venezuela and gang members."
Earlier last week, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg asked the Justice Department for public comments about Trump and other cabinet officials’ public comments on the deportation lawsuit under the Alien Enemy Act and raised the idea of moving some immigrants to Guantanamo Bay.
At the hearing, Boasberg specifically urged at the Justice Department attorneys about Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's statement about Cecot, the highest security prison in El Salvador, the United States, which has deported hundreds of immigrants, and the White House's ability to obtain someone's release.
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Homeland Security Minister Kristi Noem spoke on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 at El Salvador's terrorist lockdown centre. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Cook notes that the debate on due process has to do with the viewpoint of who has obtained these rights in the United States
“I think today, when we talk about due process, people have to understand American citizens who have due process under our constitution,” she said.
"Our country has some illegal foreigners and we give due process sliding scale. Then there are some terrorists worth almost no process because we are speeding up their removal. Our immigration judges and courts don't have enough time to stand there with everyone, and that's everyone with Tren de Aragua members and Bicker," Cook continued.
The federal judge said
U.S. immigration and customs law enforcement officers made the arrest on January 26, 2025 in part of a widespread immigration crackdown in Chicago. (via Reuters Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Handout)
Republican lawyers say from her perspective, many federal judges are questioning the president's ability to actually decide what is considered a foreign enemy.
"What happened today is that the courts through judicial activism are actually challenging. So what they said is that the president cannot designate someone with an alien enemy. They cannot designate Tren de Aragua as an alien enemy. What's more, the court is pushing and saying that these people are illegal terrorists in our country and there should be due process."
Breanne Deppisch and Jake Gibson of Fox News contributed to the report.