President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to try to deport suspected members of a Venezuelan gang, but a federal judge expanded an order that temporarily blocked that effort. However, some in the Bay Area fear the Trump Administration will still pursue using the act. Some at t he Japanese American Museum in San Jose were shocked at the president’s attempts to invoke the act. Susan Hayase of the San Jose Nikkei Resisters said the news was disappointing. “I am outraged. I know people whose parents disappeared in the middle of the night who were Japanese Americans the last time the Alien Enemies Act was invoked,” Hayase said. Hayase also recently formed the Neighbors Not Enemies coalition to help repeal the act altogether. Coalition members said the act played a pivotal role in the eventual internment of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. “With this Alien Enemies Act, this wartime act circumvents the rights of many people in this country protected by normal immigration laws,’’ said Will Kaku, a coalition member. The act enables a president to quickly detain and deport immigrants from hostile nations. The Trump Administration attempted to invoke the act to deport five Venezuelan nationals, which it claims are taking hostile actions against the U.S. However, some legal experts are challenging Trump’s interpretation of the act, arguing it was designed to be used only in times of war. An immigration attorney said if the administration is allowed to eventually invoke the act, it could lead to deportations of immigrants without due process. “The accelerated rate makes it impossible for immigrants to have their day in court’,” said Zula Munoz, an immigration attorney. Mr. Trump is the first president in nearly a century to invoke the act and the first to do so outside a major military conflict. ...read more read less