'Look up the statute': Stephen Miller schools CNN's Kasie Hunt on Alien Enemies Act, deporting Venezuelan gang members

On Monday, Stephen Miller appeared on CNN and schooled anchor Kasie Hunt when she questioned him on President Donald Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport illegal immigrant gang members from the US to El Salvador. This comes after a judge ordered that the deportations be stopped but the planes went to El Salvador with the foreign nationals despite the order.

Miller said before the segment with Hunt that the order from US District Judge James Boasberg that demanded the Trump administration not deport the gang members to El Salvador was "patently unlawful," and an "outrageous assault on the Constitution." Boasberg ordered that the Trump administration provide more documentation on the deportations in a hearing that took place on Monday after the planes did not return to the US.

Hunt asked him about the comments, "You called the judge’s order just earlier today, ‘patently unlawful,’ and said that it was an assault on democracy itself. Does that mean that the administration is ignoring this order? And might you ignore future court orders that meet the criteria you laid out?”

Miller responded, “The president of the United States and his administration reserve all rights under the Constitution to conduct national security operations in defense of the United States."

"The Alien Enemies Act, which was passed into law by the founding generation of this country," Miller continued, "men like John Adams, was written explicitly to give the president the authority to repel an alien invasion of the United States. That is not something that a district court judge has any authority whatsoever to interfere with, to enjoin, to restrict, or to restrain in any way. You can read the law yourself. There’s not one clause in that law that makes it subject to judicial review, let alone district court review.”

Hunt pressed Miller further, saying that the legal matter would eventually make its way up to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Trump advisor then explained the legality of the Alien Enemies Act, "There’s a term in law, justiciable. This is not justiciable. In other words, this is not subject to judicial remedy. When the president is exercising his Article II powers to defend the country against an invasion or to repel a foreign terrorist that is unlawfully in the country, he’s exercising his core Article II powers as commander-in-chief.”

Hunt then asked Miller if Venezuela was actually invading the United States, possibly implicating that the act has usually been used during wartime.

Miller responded, “This is a very important point. This is a Title 50 authority. It’s a commander-in-chief authority. So, just to ask you a simple question. You talk about how the system works. Does a district court judge have the right to direct or enjoin troop movements overseas? Yes or no?"

Hunt ignored Millers question, and asked again, "Is Venezuela — is Venezuela invading our country in a way that would apply this way?"

Miller explained more about the statue, saying, “I’ll answer yours and you’ll answer mine. Under the terms of the statute, Tren de Aragua is an alien enemy force that has come here as detailed at length in the proclamation at the direction of the Venezuelan government. The statute says that a president has the ability to repel an invasion or predatory incursion that is directed —”

Hunt interjected, asking Miller, "By a state or a government, right? Are they a state or a government?"

"Yes, it is documented ... [that] TDA was sent by the Venezuelan government in the proclamation. And here’s an even more important point. Under the Constitution, who makes that determination? A district court judge elected by no one or the commander in chief of the Army and Navy? The president and the president alone makes a decision of what triggers that determination."

Hunt then asked another question, referring to war with Venezuela, “So, do you think we are actually at war with Venezuela, the nation-state of Venezuela?”

Miller replied, "You’re not hearing me and you’re not understanding me. Read the statute. Alien Enemies Act 1798. It says if a predatory incursion is perpetrated by a foreign government. So it lists the three qualifying actions, it could be an act of war."

“It does say in the very beginning there has to be a declared war against a nation or a state. That’s what it says," Hunt pressed along the same line of questioning.

"No. Wrong. Look up the statute. It’s on my account on social media," Miller replied. "It says or a predatory incursion, or an invasion. The statute delineates three criteria for triggering the Alien Enemies Act. One is an act of war, which, by the way, an invasion is an act of war. But put that aside. One is an invasion, which this is. One is a predatory incursion, which this is. So it actually meets all three statutory criteria. But with respect to this particular statute, it’s the proclamation is utilizing the incursion and invasion language in the statute.”

Miller posted the law to his X account on Sunday.

“A district court judge can no more enjoin the expulsion of foreign terrorists to foreign soil, that he can direct the movement of Air Force One, that he can direct the movement of an aircraft carrier, that he can direct Marco Rubio to engage,” Miller added, later continuing. “How are you going to expel illegal alien invaders from our country who are raping little girls, who are murdering little girls, if each and every deportation has to be adjudicated in a district court judge? And that means you have no country. It means you have no sovereignty. It means you have no future. It is fundamentally incompatible to have a country and have individual expulsions adjudicated by a single district court judge."

"By the way. These same district court judges didn’t do a damn thing to stop Joe Biden from flooding this nation with millions of illegal aliens. Did these district court judges issue any injunctions to save the lives of Jocelyn Nungaray, Laken Riley, or anyone else?" Miller later added.

“I asked you a question, you never answered it,” Miller continued. “Can a judge enjoin troop movements overseas? Can a district court judge enjoin troop movements overseas? Yes or no? … Just say no and then you’ll know that I’m right.”

Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act on Saturday in order to deport the gang members, many of them from Tren de Aragua. Boasberg made an order verbally for the Trump administration to stop the deportations at around 6:45 pm on Saturday evening, but the White House has argued that the written order, which was made later after the planes left US airspace, is what takes precedent.