RMIAN condemns Trump administration's executive order invoking the Alien Enemies Act

MEDIA INQUIRIES 

Contacts: 
Mekela Goehring, mgoehring@rmian.org, RMIAN Executive Director
Monique Sherman, msherman@rmian.org, RMIAN Detention Program Managing Attorney 

Westminster, Colorado, March 16, 2025—Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) condemns the Trump administration’s March 15, 2025 executive order that invokes the Alien Enemies Act to trample fundamental principles of due process and rule of law in our country’s immigration legal system. RMIAN applauds a federal court’s order yesterday blocking the use of this executive order.

RMIAN’s founding board member and UCLA Professor of Law Hiroshi Motomura states, “Invoking the Alien Enemies Act is part of a larger, very disturbing pattern of painting all immigrants in the United States with a broad brush, calling them invaders or worse. The Enemies Act applies to foreign governments and their agents, not to individuals living and working in the United States. To declare "invasion" or "emergency" is a power grab that short-circuits due process, the rule of law, and any fair-minded attempt to fix an immigration system that virtually all agree is broken.”

RMIAN’s Executive Director Mekela Goehring states, “This executive order recalls some of the most shameful parts of U.S. history, and if allowed to stand will be used to absolutely trample any semblance of due process and civil rights for individuals from Venezuela in our community. We already have seen how allegations of TdA membership have been used to justify totally unrelated immigration arrests in Colorado. If allowed to stand, this EO opens the door to graver deprivations of due process, including the detention and removal of individuals (even those present in the U.S. lawfully) without any court process.”

RMIAN stands with our community and will fight against this injustice and attempts to strip away fundamental fairness and rights. We are closely watching the unfolding situation and are ready to mobilize to protect due process and ensure justice for immigrants in Colorado.

The ACLU and Democracy Forward filed litigation on March 15th:

• https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/federal-court-temporarily-blocks-trump-from-removing-some-immigrants-in-u-s-using-alien-enemies-act

• https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/federal-court-broadens-temporary-block-on-trump-using-alien-enemies-act-to-remove-immigrants-from-the-u-s

For additional background on this law, please see:

• https://www.axios.com/2025/03/14/trump-alien-enemies-act-deportations

• https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/alien-enemies-act-explained 

To donate to RMIAN’s work to ensure legal representation for individuals in immigration proceedings in Colorado, please visit www.rmian.org/donate.