Sponsors (10)
The bill modernizes wartime detention law to protect civil liberties and constrain executive power, but it removes an existing statutory tool and creates short‑term legal and operational gaps that could limit government options in extreme crises and impose replacement costs.
All Americans/taxpayers: Limits broad executive wartime detention authority so future presidents are less able to unilaterally detain or remove large groups without modern checks.
Immigrants: Removes an outdated statute that authorized mass detention/removal of people labeled 'alien enemies', reducing the risk of arbitrary wartime internment.
Courts and civil‑liberties enforcement: Encourages reliance on contemporary legal safeguards and judicial processes rather than archaic enemy‑alien rules, reinforcing rule‑of‑law protections.
National security and law enforcement actors: Removes a statutory tool for apprehending and removing 'enemy aliens' during declared war, which could constrain government options in extreme crises.
Local governments and agencies: Creates short‑term legal uncertainty about permissible wartime detention authorities until Congress clarifies or replaces the statute, complicating planning and training.
Taxpayers/general public: If Congress enacts narrower replacement authorities, drafting and implementing those alternatives could impose new legislative and operational costs on taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Repeals the Alien Enemies Act and related statutes (50 U.S.C. §§21–24), removing federal statutory authority to detain or regulate noncitizens as "alien enemies."
Introduced January 22, 2025 by Mazie Hirono · Last progress January 22, 2025
Repeals the Alien Enemies Act and its companion provisions in federal law (codified at 50 U.S.C. §§21–24), removing statutory authority that allowed the government to apprehend, detain, restrain, remove, or regulate noncitizens labeled as “alien enemies” and to implement restrictions through presidential proclamations. The measure is limited in scope (two short sections) and does not create new programs or appropriate funds.