Justice Department Memo Claims Alien Enemies Act Allows Warrantless Home Searches and No Judicial Review
Newly uncovered guidance from the Justice Department claims the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) allows federal law enforcement officers to enter the houses of suspected gang members without a warrant and remove them from the country without any judicial review.
In a March 14 memorandum, obtained by the open government group Property of the People through a public records request and first reported by USA Today, Attorney General Pam Bondi instructs federal law enforcement officers on how to carry out arrests on members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TDA), which President Donald Trump has declared are “alien enemies” under the AEA.
The Trump administration has refused to disclose many of the operational details of its unprecedented invocation of the 1798 wartime law to send alleged TDA members to a prison in El Salvador under an agreement with that country’s president, Nayib Bukele. The memo is one of the first public glimpses at the Trump administration’s claims that it can identify, pursue, arrest, and deport migrants, unconstrained by the Fourth Amendment or due process.
While the memo encourages officers to cooperate with federal prosecutors, it notes that “a judicial or administrative arrest warrant is not necessary to apprehend a validated Alien Enemy.”
The memo also allows officers to arrest suspects they encounter in the field “upon a reasonable belief that
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