New York, NY – Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s brazen defiance of a federal court order and unprecedented use of wartime authority to justify immigration enforcement:

“America stands at the edge of a constitutional precipice. This weekend, the Trump Administration crossed a line unseen in modern American history—willfully ignoring a federal judge’s order and proceeding with the forced deportation of individuals under an archaic and grossly misapplied wartime statute. This nation has not witnessed such an assault on the rule of law since the Civil War, when our democratic institutions were put to their ultimate test.

The Alien Enemies Act, used most infamously to justify Japanese internment during World War II, has no place in a nation that claims to stand for liberty and justice. The President cannot invent authority to disappear people and put them in foreign prisons. Trump’s invocation of this statute, despite the clear absence of a declared war or credible national security threat, is nothing short of a dictatorial power grab. His administration’s refusal to abide by a direct judicial order further signals its utter contempt for our system of checks and balances.

The dangerous precedent set by these actions threatens the very foundation of our democracy. When an administration decides which court rulings it will honor and which it will defy, the law itself crumbles. Today, it is immigrants being forcibly expelled under false pretenses without due process. Tomorrow, it could be Trump’s political opponents or American citizens who find themselves at the mercy of a rogue, unaccountable executive branch.

Congress must act immediately to reaffirm that no president is above the law. I demand Chairman Jim Jordan direct the House Judiciary Committee to immediately investigate and hold hearings on this gross abuse of power by the Trump Administration. Congress must stand strong for the rule of law. We cannot abdicate our role as a co-equal branch of government. We must hold Trump accountable—our democracy depends on it.”