In the initial hours of his presidency, Donald Trump enacted multiple executive orders outlining his administration’s strategy to label particular cartels and criminal organizations as terrorists, utilize the Alien Enemies Act to deport them, and enlist the U.S. military to support border security efforts.

Specifics regarding these plans remain unclear. However, former officials from Homeland Security and specialists advised that designating cartels and gangs, like the Tren de Aragua from Venezuela, as terrorist entities could enable immigration officials to target individuals from those nations. Additionally, deploying military forces directly in border security might contradict established rules and procedures, they noted.

Jerry Robinette, who formerly led the San Antonio office of Homeland Security Investigations under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, stated it is still early to determine how these new designations might operate. However, he mentioned that expanding powers to pursue not just individuals but the networks facilitating their operations could assist federal investigators along the border.

“It puts you in a position of advantage to advance some of your investigations,” Robinette remarked. “You gain a tool that permits actions previously unavailable.”

What is the Alien Enemies Act?

The Alien Enemies Act, established in 1798, was designed to serve as wartime authority for the detention or deportation of identified enemies, according to Katherine Ebright, a lawyer at the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security Program. The law was last utilized during World War II for the internment of noncitizens of Japanese, German, and Italian descent, as noted by the Brennan Center.

Trump indicated intentions to target members of crime syndicates such as Tren De Aragua or the international gang MS 13 from El Salvador and Guatemala. If interpreted broadly, Ebright explained, the order could encompass anyone who is not a U.S. citizen—such as permanent residents, visa holders, or asylum seekers—from a specified nation.

Historically, a nation has typically been designated during wartime. For example, Japanese citizens were labeled enemy aliens after the attack on Pearl Harbor, while members of Al Qaeda, as a non-national terror group, were not labeled after the 9/11 attacks. This situation would represent the first instance of a crime gang being declared an enemy without a state of war against the country itself.

“It’s unprecedented,” she stated.

What Consequences Might the Terrorist Organization Classification Have on Cartels?

Michael Brown, a former high-ranking DEA agent, remarked that the terrorist organization designation is well overdue.

“They’re not functioning like 1970s drug traffickers anymore,” said Brown, who dedicated 32 years to the DEA and is now the global director of counter-narcotics technology at Rigaku Analytical Devices.

“This classification provides law enforcement and prosecutors with strong tools to target not only the cartels but also domestic entities aiding them,” Brown told YSL News.

In his executive order on Monday night, Trump did not specify any particular cartel or crime group.

However, the order highlighted that cartels “engaged in a campaign of violence” that destabilized the area and inundated the nation with harmful drugs and criminals.

Essentially, the order tags cartels and criminal organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

This new classification may empower the U.S. government to dismantle everyone involved in the fentanyl distribution network, from chemical producers to logistics and distribution agencies, as well as banks and street dealers, in ways that traditional law enforcement typically couldn’t, Brown stated.

The Foreign Terrorist Organization designation allows the U.S. government to pursue cartel traffickers more aggressively, potentially employing military or intelligence assets for targeted actions, including drone strikes outside the United States—possibly even in Mexico.

“Theoretically, if Mexico does not cooperate in the next six months to a year, the president could authorize such a strike. But I don’t expect that to happen immediately,” Brown added.

He also pointed out that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has shown some willingness to collaborate with the Trump administration in more aggressively addressing the cartel issue.

“If cooperation fails, then Trump could theoretically authorize a cross-border strike without congressional approval since they are classified as a terrorist organization,” Brown explained.

Furthermore, this classification could permit prosecutors to charge U.S.-based accomplices with supporting terrorist organizations, which could result in significantly longer prison sentences, Brown noted.

What Military Operations Are Currently Taking Place at the Border?

Both the Defense Department and governors of border states currently have troops stationed along the border, though it remains uncertain how Trump’s recent actions will affect these operations.

The Pentagon’s mission, which is federally managed, has around 2,500 Army Reserve and National Guard members who have been called to active duty under the president’s direction. This mission was initiated during the Trump administration in 2018, reaching a peak of approximately 7,000 troops when active duty units were integrated with reservists and Guardsmen.

Troops assigned to this federal mission provide support for U.S. Customs and Border Protection by assisting with logistics, helicopter operations, data entry, and detecting crossings, among other roles that allow law enforcement personnel to focus on activities they are authorized to handle, such as patrolling the border and intercepting migrants.

Additionally, numerous National Guard members are engaged in state-led border enforcement operations in Texas and Arizona.

Texas’s Operation Lone Star, launched in March 2021, is a state-controlled border operation overseen by Governor Greg Abbott. Since National Guard members operate under the governor’s authority, they have carried out arrests—primarily under state trespassing laws—and performed other law enforcement functions.

The operation saw a peak of around 10,000 Texas National Guard members in late 2021, but recent details regarding the strength of the mission remain scarce. Operation Lone Star has also been supplemented by small, often temporary contingents from 18 other states where governors chose to lend their support to Abbott’s immigration policies.

How Will Trump’s Actions Differ from Previous Military Deployments at the Border?

During the tenures of George W. Bush and Obama, thousands of National Guard troops were dispatched to the U.S.-Mexico border to support border agents. The Obama administration was responsible for deporting more individuals (over 400,000 for three consecutive years, per the Migration Policy Institute) than any other president in history.

Trump also sent National Guard troops during his first term; however, the current question is whether these troops will play a more direct role in apprehending migrants.

Gil Kerlikowske, who served as Customs and Border Enforcement commissioner from 2014 to 2017, stated that his agency frequently utilized both National Guard and active-duty troops to assist Border Patrol agents. However, military personnel traditionally took support roles, such as monitoring surveillance cameras or operating helicopters.

Giving military troops the directive to apprehend migrants could lead to problematic scenarios, Kerlikowske warned.

“You really want to avoid the potential for someone resorting to deadly force,” he cautioned. “When troops are placed in such a position, that risk is present.”

What Legal Authority Do Military Forces Have in Immigration Enforcement?

The role of U.S. military personnel at the border varies according to the legal authorization under which they are operating.

If Trump plans to assign active-duty troops a more direct role, he would have to comply with the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits federal troops from directly engaging in civilian law enforcement. Reserve troops brought to active federal duty, like those already stationed at the border, are subject to these same limitations.

Nevertheless, Trump could invoke a different law—the Insurrection Act—to command troops to directly detain migrants, explained Lindsay Cohn, an associate professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College.

By using the Insurrection Act, “there is essentially no limit to the military’s participation,” Cohn stated.

Doris Meissner, a senior research fellow at the Migration Policy Institute and a former Commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, noted that “what’s being discussed now with the Alien Enemies Act and the involvement of active military represents a distinct type of military assistance,” describing it as “a significant escalation.”

Under certain conditions, National Guard personnel may enforce laws without needing the Insurrection Act. The defense secretary is authorized to allocate funds for Guard units engaged in state-led “homeland defense” operations.

When Guardsmen are ordered to border duty under federally funded state operations, as they were during Trump’s first term, they continue to operate under their governor’s control, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Governors retain the ability to refuse to deploy troops in this manner—as seen when a bipartisan collection of governors withdrew troops from the border in 2018 after the exposure of the Trump administration’s family separation policies.

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