WASHINGTON – Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) on Feb. 17 reintroduced the Neighbors Not Enemies Act, which would repeal the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) of 1798 — a xenophobic anti-immigrant law that has been used to justify the incarceration of Japanese, German, and Italian Americans during World War II, as well as the Muslim Ban by President Trump in 2017.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) introduced the House companion version this Congress.
“The Alien Enemies Act is an 18th-century xenophobic law that has been used as legal justification for some of the most shameful decisions made by this country — including the internment of Japanese people during World War II and the former president’s despicable Muslim ban,” Hirono said. “There should be nothing partisan about ensuring this country treats immigrants with justice and due process. It’s time to pass the Neighbors Not Enemies Act to repeal the Alien Enemies Act once and for all.”
“It’s way past time we repeal the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a law that justified Japanese American internment and the Muslim ban,” said Omar. “This outdated and xenophobic law is antithetical to our values as a nation and belongs in the dustbin of history. Now is our opportunity to end the targeting of an entire group based only on their nationality and remind the world that here in the United States, we fight for human rights, uphold civil liberties, and care for our neighbors. I’m proud to team up with Sen. Hirono to get this hateful, xenophobic law off the books.”
In 1798, President John Adams signed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were composed of four bills targeting immigrants under the guise of war. The original four bills were the Naturalization Act; the Alien Friends Act; the Sedition Act; and the Alien Enemies Act. Today, the Aliens Enemies Act is the only one that remains in effect.
The AEA allows the president to target foreign nationals, international students, and legal U.S. residents of a specific country to be “apprehended, restrained, secured and removed” without due process during wartime.
Feb. 19 marked the Day of Remembrance, the day in 1942 that President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which led to the unjust and unconstitutional incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans. Repealing the Alien Enemies Act would be a long-overdue step to prevent future miscarriages of justice from happening again, Hirono said.
This bill is cosponsored by Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
“The Neighbors Not Enemies Act is long overdue and very much needed,” said David Inoue, executive director of the Japanese American Citizens League. “As we look back 80 years to the signing of Executive Order 9066, which granted the military broad power to forcibly remove and relocate nearly 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, we must recognize the role that antiquated policies such as the Alien Enemies Act played in justifying the military’s actions under the false pretense of military security. Congress must act to prevent another president from abusing the power granted by this antiquated and unnecessary policy.”
This bill has been endorsed by:
Human Rights Watch
JACL
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Center for International Policy
Defending Rights & Dissent
Church World Service
Coalition on Human Needs
Conference of Presentation Sisters
Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC)
Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project
International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)
Islamic Society of North America
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office
Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC)
Minnesota Peace Project
Muslim Public Affairs Council
National Immigration Law Center
National Iranian American Council Action
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
Poligon Education Fund
Project South
Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (RISE)
Shoulder to Shoulder
The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)
The Sikh Coalition
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
UndocuBlack Network
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Veterans for Peace Chapter 27