The Alien Enemies Act of 1798: Understanding 1941 and 2025

Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt invoked the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) of 1798, leading to the arrest of thousands of West Coast Issei men and their wartime detention in Army and INS facilities in an internment process that was distinct from the incarceration of nearly 127,000 persons of Japanese ancestry under Executive Order 9066. In the spring of 2025, President Donald J. Trump invoked this act against alleged Tren de Aragua members on the basis that this Venezuelan gang has “invaded” the United States, spawning a blizzard of litigation over this Trump administration’s assertion of authority in immigration policy and practices.

This panel will address how this act was applied to and impacted the Japanese American wartime community, ramifications of the current administration’s approaches, the status of the court cases challenging the administration’s use of AEA, and the amicus brief that was filed on behalf of descendants of Issei men who were imprisoned when the AEA was invoked in World War II. The speakers also will discuss how to accurately and effectively speak about the lessons from history when communities, especially those of color, live under the specter and reality of arrest, detention, and deportation.

Moderator: Susan H. Kamei, adjunct professor (teaching) of history, and affiliate faculty, USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture