Trump Administration officials continue to defend its use of extraordinary war powers to deport more than 200 Venezuelan migrants accused of being criminals to a new mega prison in El Salvador. The President’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to allow the deportation has ignited a legal battle.
Note: Chief DC District Judge James Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order that blocked the use law to deport the detainees and questioned the legality of its use. When he invoked the Alien Enemies Act, Trump declared that a Venezuelan gang (Tren de Aragua) “is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.”
Trump has said repeatedly that the U.S. is “at war” and has described the U.S. as an “occupied country.” At his joint address to Congress in January the President said: “The cartels are waging war in America, and it’s time for America to wage war on the cartels, which we are doing.”
Boasberg wrote: “Despite the President’s determination otherwise, Tren de Aragua is not a ‘foreign nation or government,’ and its actions, however heinous, do not amount to an ‘invasion’ or a ‘predatory incursion.’”
When U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem visited the mega prison in El Salvador on Wednesday and posed with the bare-chested and head-shorn inmates behind her, Retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Michael Franken responded to Noem on X: “It is a violation under the Fourth Geneva Convention to pose with prisoners.”
It is a violation under the Fourth Geneva Convention to pose with prisoners.@Sec_Noem
— Admiral Mike Franken (@FrankenforIowa) March 27, 2025
Franken, also the former Director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) who served under Presidents Obama and Trump, added: “The first three Geneva Conventions dealt with combatants. The 4th with civilian prisoners. They are either combatants in MAGA minds or civilians without due process. Geneva signatory is germane.”
— Admiral Mike Franken (@FrankenforIowa) March 28, 2025
MAGA supporters are responding to Franken and denying that the U.S. is at war, despite Trump’s argument for his use of the Alien Enemies Act. One replied: “No state of war exists, therefore the Geneva Convention does not apply.” Another contended that “Kristi Noem is not in the military, and the US is not currently involved in any declared war any other nation of the world.”
Another ignored Franken’s note about the 4th Geneva Convention which applies to “civilian prisoners,” and wrote “Military prisoners, yes. Doesn’t apply here.”
Note: As seen below, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the DPAA on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii on Tuesday.
Visited @dodpaa to see firsthand the incredible work being done to account for our nation’s missing service members. Their mission is sacred: Fulfilling our nation’s promise. Grateful for the dedicated professionals bringing our heroes home. We will never forget. pic.twitter.com/VChc60aHtL
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) March 26, 2025