This Proclamation invokes a 1798 law about war powers and invasion, the Alien Enemies Act, against members of a Venezuelan gang that is not at war with or invading the United States, to claim vast executive power to deport people without due process. The Alien Enemies Act is a wartime authority that can only be invoked against "a foreign nation or government" and that does not allow summary deportations without due process. The Act is the only remaining element of the reviled Alien and Sedition Acts from the John Adams administration and has only been invoked three other times in American history, always during declared wars (the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II). The Trump Administration has applied the Alien Enemies Act to send Venezuelans to El Salvador, where they are currently being detained indefinitely without charge at a maximum-security prison infamous for human rights violations and torture, at U.S. taxpayer expense.