Congress·In Committee·H.R. 630

Congress Proposes Repealing 1798 Law That Allows Mass Detention of Non-Citizens During War

Neighbors Not Enemies Act

about 1 year ago·View on Congress.gov

⏸

Stalled

No legislative action in over 90 days.

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

Key Points

This bill, introduced by Representative Omar, would cancel a law from 1798 that gives the president the power to arrest, lock up, or deport people based solely on where they are from during times of war.
Currently, the government can use this old law against any non-citizen aged 14 or older if the U.S. is in a conflict with their home country, even if the person has not committed any crimes.
This specific law was used in the past to justify the mass detention of people during World War II. Those who want to repeal it say the law is outdated and leads to unfair treatment of innocent people.
If this bill becomes law, the government would no longer be able to use a person's nationality as the only reason to imprison or remove them from the country during a war or invasion.

ImmigrationCivil RightsNational Security

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

How this policy affects specific groups of people

Mixed Impacts(1)

Naturalized Citizen

Neutral

The Alien Enemies Act targets non-citizens, but its repeal strengthens protections against nationality-based discrimination broadly.

Positive Impacts(4)

Immigrant

Helps

Would remove a law that lets the government detain or deport non-citizens based solely on their nationality during wartime.

Undocumented

Helps

Eliminates a legal tool that could be used to round up and detain undocumented people from certain countries during conflicts.

Visa Holder

Helps

Visa holders from countries in conflict with the U.S. would no longer face mass detention under a wartime authority.

Green Card

Helps

Permanent residents would lose vulnerability to arrest and deportation based purely on their country of origin during war.

Broader Impacts

DomainScoreShort-termLong-termReversibilityConfidence

Score

Scores: -5 (harmful) to +5 (beneficial)Short-term: 0-2 yearsLong-term: 10-30 years

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Jan 22, 2025House

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Jan 22, 2025

Introduced in House

Related News

2 articles

Star Tribune·about 1 year ago

Minneapolis city officials and Ilhan Omar stand up against Trump administration on immigration

Rep. Ilhan Omar and Minneapolis officials advocated for the Neighbors Not Enemies Act to repeal the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Omar argued the law is unconstitutional and being exploited for mass deportations based on nationality rather than criminal conduct.

CL~

SCOTUSblog·11 months ago

Justices temporarily bar government from removing Venezuelan men under Alien Enemies Act

In an overnight order, the Supreme Court paused the removal of a specific group of detainees under the 1798 law. This legal tug-of-war has intensified the national debate over the Neighbors Not Enemies Act, which seeks to permanently remove the president's ability to use the statute.