LOS ANGELES TIMES – Last month, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law giving him immense powers to deport noncitizens in a time of war.
His use of that law was aimed at Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that he has repeatedly and falsely claimed to be part of an “invasion” of criminal immigrants in the United States.
Within 24 hours of Trump’s March 14 decree, more than 130 Venezuelans were deported to the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT — a prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, notorious for its conditions — even as a U.S. judge ordered the planes carrying them to turn around.
An 18th century law
Trump had long promised to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to combat illegal immigration. The law crafted during the presidency of John Adams had been used just three times: during the War of 1812 and the two world wars.
The Trump administration had begun moving closer to calling the migrant issue a war, most notably by designating eight Latin American criminal groups, including Tren de Aragua, as “foreign terrorist organizations.”
Tattoos as gang markers
U.S. immigration authorities use a series of “gang identifiers” to spot members of Tren de Aragua. Some are obvious, such as evidence of trafficking drugs with known gang members.
Some are more surprising:
Chicago Bulls jerseys, “high-end urban street wear,” and tattoos of clocks, stars and crowns, according to government instructional material filed in court by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Ordinary tattoos were key to marking many deported men as Tren members, according to documents and lawyers.
One of those men was a makeup artist who said he fled Venezuela after his boss at a state-run news channel publicly slapped him.
In a country where political repression and open homophobia are part of life, it’s hard to be a gay man who does not support Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro …
