Trump Attempts to Use 18th Century Law to Allow Feds to Enter Homes Without a Warrant

Federal agents will soon be allowed to enter homes without a warrant, the president’s lawyers have argued, thanks to an 18th Century law recently used to deport Venezuelan gang members. The Alien Enemies Act of 1798, last used to justify internment camps for the Japanese during World War 2, has only been invoked three times throughout history—all of which were during major wars. But the law, which can be used to supersede the Fourth Amendment provision which requires federal agents to obtain a court order before searching somebody’s home, is technically applicable to any foreign citizen the president designates as an “alien enemy”—and experts fear there is little they can do to stop it. A particular bit of wording on the Act, which allows it to be used at the “warrant of a president,” gives the government “at least a foot in the door with respect to arguing that the president can order this on his own authority,” law professor Christopher Slobogin told The New York Times. But experts have long warned the arcane law is open to abuse. “The Fourth Amendment applies to everyone in the U.S., not just individuals with legal status,” said Christopher A. Wellborn, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Removing it would be “an abuse of power that destroys our privacy, making Americans feel unsafe and vulnerable in the places where our children play and our loved ones sleep.”