Dear Colleague:

Please join me in repealing the Alien Enemies Act by cosponsoring the Neighbors Not Enemies Act.

The 1798 laws known collectively as the “Alien and Sedition Acts” were a set of four bills targeting immigrants under the guise of war. While three of the acts have since expired or been repealed, the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) remains in effect to this day.

The AEA allows the US president to determine how, and if, all foreign nationals from a specific country should be “apprehended, restrained, secured and removed” (50 USC 21). The Act was employed during WWII to detain and subsequently deport German, Japanese, and Italian immigrants. More recently, during the 2016 election now President Trump used the AEA as a justification for the Muslim Ban.

The Trump administration has continually demonstrated the danger of unchecked executive powers, especially in regard to his immigration policies of family separation and attacks against Muslim immigrants and refugees, to name a few. The AEA dangerously permits the president extreme executive powers to target an entire group of foreign nationals.

This outdated and xenophobic law is an offense to our values as a nation. We must learn from historical mistakes built on fear of the other and embrace a fair and just immigration system by repealing the Alien Enemies Act.

If you would like to cosponsor the Neighbors Not Enemies Act, please complete the form below.

For additional information, please contact Maria Martirosyan at Maria.Martirosyan@mail.house.gov or by calling 5-4755.


Sincerely,
 
Ilhan Omar                                                                
Member of Congress