During President Trump’s 2024 Presidential Campaign and second term, he focused on Tren de Aragua as a symbol of what he describes as Migrant crime and a threat to American safety. President Trump has often spoken of the gang’s reach by claiming it has taken over Aurora, Colorado under the Biden Administration. President Trump acted swiftly when he took office in January; on his first day, he signed an executive order that recommended that Tren de Aragua, along with other gangs such as MS-13, be designated as foreign terrorist organizations. This is a big step beyond the Biden administration’s previous classification of it as a transnational criminal organization in July 2024. By February of 2025, Tren de Aragua was officially labeled as a terrorist group in the U.S. This aligns it with groups such as ISIS. Recently, on March 15, 2025, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. This wartime law allows the deportation of Tren de Aragua gang members without court hearings, as they are considered an invasion. The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 has been previously invoked by sitting Presidents on three different occasions, during the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II. This Act allows for expedited removal of Venezuelan immigrants who are suspected of being involved or members of the Tren de Aragua gang. This means that all members of the gang who are Venezuelan citizens 14 years old or older and in the United States will be removed as Alien Enemies. The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 states:
“Tren de Aragua is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization with thousands of members, many of whom have unlawfully infiltrated the United States and are conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States.”
The gang also poses a threat to public safety as they have a goal of destabilizing nations, which includes the United States of America. To emphasize this message, President Trump’s action also states:
“Tren de Aragua is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.”
So far, the Trump administration has deported 200 suspected Tren de Aragua gang members and counting. They are all transported to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, which is a mega-prison. Just hours before the Act was signed, the American Civil Liberties Union, Democracy Forward, and the ACLU of the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit. It claimed that the Act would be misused to deport any Venezuelan in the U.S., regardless of whether they were a member of the Ten de Aragua gang or not. A hearing occurred Saturday afternoon, March 15, 2025, and U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg blocked the Act and issued a temporary restraining order. He aimed to halt deportations under the 1798 law as he claimed using the Act was unlawful outside of wartime conditions. The restraining order prevented the deportation of five Venezuelans who had already been in custody for two weeks, plus it stopped two planes that were possibly en route to deport illegal immigrants. The judge had ordered that the planes return to the U.S. Despite Judge Boasberg’s ruling, the Trump Administration proceeded with deportations, and President Trump hailed the operation as a success while emphasizing his commitment to removing vicious and bloodthirsty criminals from the U.S.
On March 17, 2025, President Trump’s White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller, appeared on CNN’s The Arena with Kasie Hunt to address the issue. Miller defended President Trump’s decision to deport hundreds of Venezuelans who are members of Tren de Aragua. Throughout the interview, Hunt pressed Miller on whether the Trump Administration violated Judge Boasberg’s order to halt. Miller argued that the Trump Administration did nothing wrong and acted within its legal authority. He also expressed that the administration did not intend to create an exemption by emphasizing the national security threat that Tren de Aragua poses.
On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, President Trump called for the impeachment of Judge Boasberg due to his actions in a Truth Social post. He referred to the Obama-appointed judge as a “Radical Left Lunatic.”
On March 18, 2025, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare public statement. Roberts rebuked President Trump’s call for the impeachment of Judge Boasberg due to rulings he disagreed with and emphasized that the call for impeachment is an inappropriate response to judicial disagreements. On the same day, Texas Republican Representative Brandon Gill filed articles of impeachment against Judge Boasberg which sparked a debate within the GOP, with some supporting impeachment while others stand alongside Roberts and argue such disagreements belong in courts not Congress. This incident marks the most significant public conflict between Justice’s Roberts and President Trump. As the last notable conflict occurred in 2018 over judicial impedance. President Trump reacted to Roberts’ rebuke on Fox News Laura Ingraham later that night. President Trump noted that Roberts did not mention him by name in his public statement. Ingraham asked President Trump if he would defy a court order in the future. President Trump responded by stating;
“You can’t do that. There are some very bad judges and at a certain point, you have to look at what do you do when you have a rogue judge.”
President Trump will also soon urge illegal immigrants to self-deport themselves from the U.S. by using a new app from the Department of Homeland Security. Fox News reports that later this week, President Trump will send a video message via social media calling on illegal immigrants to use the app to announce their departure from the U.S. In the video, Trump states:
“People in our country can self-deport the easy way, or they can get deported the hard way, and that’s not pleasant. The Biden Administration exploited the CBP One App to allow more than one million aliens to illegally enter the United States. Now, my administration is launching the CBP Home App to give people in our country illegally an easy way to leave now and self-deport voluntarily. If they do, they will have the opportunity to potentially return legally at some point in the future, but if they do not avail themselves of this opportunity, then they will be found. They will be deported, and they will never be admitted to the United States ever, ever again.”
President Trump also added that the CBP Home App is the safest option for illegal immigrants and law enforcement as it also helps law enforcement focus on apprehending and deporting illegal immigrants convicted of crimes, such as those who have ties to Tren de Aragua. The app will allow illegal immigrants to submit their intended departure date and additional information on their intent to leave the U.S. They must also provide information to verify that they have left the U.S.
In conclusion, President Trump has made Tren de Aragua a focal point of his immigration crackdown by using legal tools to target it. At the same time, the gang’s actual scale of influence in the U.S. continues to be debated. It is clear that the Trump Administration is moving rapidly to expand deportations and also cut the number of illegal immigrants that enter the U.S.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is article has been updated to include the statement from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and President Trump's response.
