Press Release
March 22, 2025
WASHINGTON – A group of conservative and independent former government officials and State Democracy Defenders Fund have filed a motion to submit an amicus brief, opposing the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, calling it an unprecedented and dangerous overreach of executive power. The brief raises concerns over the potential for abuse of power, the erosion of civil liberties, and the undermining of constitutional principles.
The brief warns that the administration’s actions are an unconstitutional overreach. The Alien Enemies Act, passed in 1798, was intended for use only during times of war, and Trump’s recent invocation of the Act is not only unwarranted but also violates constitutional principles that limit the scope of executive power.
The group of supporters is concerned that the administration’s actions set a dangerous precedent. The President frequently claims immigrants are “invading” the United States and could use the Alien Enemies Act to target individuals from other countries that draw his ire.
The full list of signers is below:
- Donald B. Ayer, Deputy Attorney General in the George H.W. Bush Administration from 1989 to 1990 and Principal Deputy Solicitor General in the Reagan Administration from 1986 to 1988
- Arne Carlson, Governor of Minnesota from 1991 to 1999 (R)
- Ty Cobb, Special Counsel to the President in the Trump Administration from 2017 to 2018
- Barbara Comstock, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-VA) from 2015 to 2019
- George Conway, Board President for the Society for the Rule of Law
- Eric Edelman, Principal Deputy National Security Advisor to the Vice President from 2001 to 2003 and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2005 to 2009
- John Farmer Jr., New Jersey Attorney General from 1999 to 2002 and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994
- Stuart M. Gerson, Acting United States Attorney General in the Clinton Administration in 1993
- Jim Greenwood, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-PA) from 1993 to 2005
- Michael Hayden, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2006 to 2009, Director of the National Security Agency from 1999 to 2005, and General in the United States Air Force
- Bob Inglis, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-SC) from 1993 to 1999 and from 2005 to 2011
- William Kristol, Chief of Staff to Vice President Dan Quayle from 1989 to 1993
- Philip Allen Lacovara, Counsel to the Special Prosecutor, Watergate Special Prosecutor’s Office from 1973 to 1974
- John McKay, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington in the George W. Bush Administration from 2001 to 2007
- Tom Petri, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-WI) from 1979 to 2015
- Trevor Potter, Chairman of the Federal Election Commission and Commissioner of the Federal Election Commission from 1991 to 1995
- Paul Rosenzweig, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Department of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2009
- Robert Shanks, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel from 1981 to 1984
- Peter Smith, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-VT) from 1989 to 1991
- William Joseph Walsh, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-IL) from 2011 to 2013
- Christine Todd Whitman, Governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 (R) and Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2001 to 2003
State Democracy Defenders Fund is a bipartisan, nonprofit organization committed to upholding the rule of law and defending the Constitution.
“The President’s invocation of supposedly unreviewable statutory authority lacks all merit,” the amici state in their brief. “Every person already detained and removed under that proclamation and imputed authority should have been — and now must be — afforded due process and individualized consideration. Anything less countenances oppression, abuse, and tyranny.”
On March 15, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act as a way to speed up the removal of certain Venezuelan gang members who are in the United States. The law grants the President extraordinary powers in times of war or in response to an “invasion or predatory incursion” to detain and remove individuals from a country at war with the U.S. or believed to be engaged in an invasion.
The amicus brief can be found HERE.
State Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state, and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.