President Donald Trump has signed 11 executive orders related to immigration, which combined with his inaugural speech, send a clear message about heavy immigration enforcement to come.
Documented has been going through the details of each executive order from the White House, and talked to experts to understand what these may mean for our communities.
President Donald Trump declared a national emergency and signed an executive order designating international cartels and transnational criminal organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), or Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). The order cites groups including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua (TdA) and MS-13 as threats to national security.
While the move aims to combat violent crime, critics warn it could have far-reaching implications for immigrants, potentially enabling racial profiling and the misuse of outdated laws.
“The executive order is really a facade. There are already efforts to go after gangs and cartels. This is just another ploy to wholesale label communities as something they are not,” said Murad Awawdeh President and CEO of the New York Immigrant Coalition (NYIC).
The Immigrant Defense Project (IDP) told Documented that the order is “yet another example of the Trump administration’s disregard for the rule of law,” warning that the executive order’s framing of these gangs as national security threats could pave the way for invoking the Aliens Enemies Act of 1798, an outdated law last used during WW II to detain 31,0000 immigrants without due process based on their nationality.
“[The law] purports to allow the president, once a declaration has been made of an invasion or incursion by a foreign nation or government, to detain and deport people from that country without further due process,” IDP noted, Donald Trump frequently stated during his presidential campaign that he would use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport immigrants who were criminals, indicating the potential racial profiling under this framework.
“By invoking the alien enemies act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities,” Trump said on inauguration day.
The law “can be — and has been — used against immigrants who have done nothing wrong,” notes the Brennan Center for Justice.
Also Read: Law Enforcement Can’t Confirm the Tren de Aragua Gang is in New York City
The executive order targets Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, a gang widely regarded as the most powerful and violent criminal organization in the country. The FBI have confirmed the gang’s presence domestically and in 2024, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned the group as a Transnational Criminal Organization.
Also included in the order is the notorious MS-13, a gang with roots in Los Angeles that expanded across Central America in the 1980s. Known for extreme violence, including murder and human trafficking, MS-13 has been a focal point of Trump’s immigration and law enforcement policies. The gang was previously designated a Transnational Criminal Organization in 2012, which allowed U.S. authorities to freeze its assets and prosecute members under enhanced legal frameworks.
“While they may have picked two South American gangs right now, I expect them to increase that by adding other organizations, other countries to that list as well because it’s not limited to just gangs,” said Awawdeh.
While the executive order emphasizes the need to crack down on violent criminal networks, immigrant advocacy groups argue that the broad framing conflates criminal behavior with immigration status, stoking fear and xenophobia.
Trump’s repeated characterization of South American migrants as criminals, claiming without evidence that countries are “emptying their prisons” into the U.S., has been widely debunked by fact-checkers, including The Marshall Project.
你知道吗？非公民办理驾照时的这个错误可能会导致选民欺诈
The move signals an escalation in Trump’s hardline immigration policies and raises concerns about its implementation. Critics caution that framing these groups as national security threats could justify policies that erode civil liberties under the pretext of public safety.
“Every single action that the Trump administration has implemented, with every executive order and every executive action that they’ve taken thus far, is to put a target on every single immigrant’s back, regardless if you’ve been here for 30 days or 30 years,” said Awawdeh.
The criticism surrounding the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act has reignited calls to repeal the law. In response, Rep. Ilhan Omar and Sen. Mazie Hirono reintroduced the Neighbors Not Enemies Act, which seeks to fully repeal the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Advocates argue that repealing the Act would prevent future misuse by ensuring immigrants cannot be targeted under sweeping executive powers without due process. With support from over 60 civil rights and immigrant advocacy organizations, the proposed legislation emphasizes the importance of justice and equity in shaping America’s immigration system.
