Trump Orders Attacks on Militant Sites in Yemen, Issues Warning to Iran

On Saturday, the Trump administration utilized a broad wartime authority that has only been used three times before to expedite the deportation of migrants associated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

The Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a little-known 18th-century statute, allows the president broad authority to pursue and deport unlawful aliens. The legislation is intended to be used if the United States is at war with another country, or if a foreign government invades or threatens to invade the United States. As a result, legal experts have predicted an uphill struggle in court.

President Donald Trump launched a series of airstrikes on Yemen's capital, Sanaa, on Saturday, pledging to use "overwhelming lethal force" until Iranian-backed Houthi rebels stop attacking vessels along a critical maritime route.

In a presidential proclamation issued Saturday, the White House cited its designation of Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization, stating that many of its members have "unlawfully infiltrated the United States and are conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States."

“Our brave Warfighters are right now carrying out aerial attacks on the terrorists’ bases, leaders, and missile defenses to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom,” Trump said in a social media post. "No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World."

The proclamation directs that all people affected by the legislation be promptly arrested, jailed, and removed.

He also cautioned Iran to quit aiding the rebel group, pledging to hold it "fully accountable" for its proxy's activities. It comes two weeks after the US president wrote a letter to Iranian authorities suggesting a way to reopen bilateral negotiations over Iran's developing nuclear weapons program, which Trump has vowed he would not allow to become operational.

The Brennan Center reports that the Alien Enemies Act has been applied three times in US history, all during wartime. During World Wars I and II, it was used to excuse the arrest and deportation of German, Austro-Hungarian, Italian, and Japanese migrants. According to the nonpartisan law and policy center, the statute contributed to the controversial US program of Japanese incarceration during WWII.

The Houthis reported a number of blasts in their territory Saturday evening. Images circulating online show plumes of black smoke rising from the Sanaa airport complex, which includes a vast military base.

The airstrikes came only a few days after the Houthis said that they will start assaults on Israeli vessels operating in waters around Yemen in reaction to Israel's siege of Gaza. No Houthi strikes have been reported since then.

The Houthis claimed that their warning had reached the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the Arabian Gulf.

The Houthi media office said that the US attacks targeted "a residential neighborhood" in Sanaa's northern district of Shouab. Residents in Sanaa reported at least four bombings on the Eastern Geraf neighborhood in the Shouab district, scaring women and children.

During their campaign targeting military and civilian ships between the start of Israel's war with Hamas in late 2023 and January of this year, the Houthis targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two and killing four sailors.

Earlier Saturday, a federal court temporarily blocked the removal of certain illegal immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act, hours before the Trump administration used the statute. The temporary restraining order only applies to people who filed a case on Saturday, but the court will hold a hearing Saturday evening to decide whether to broaden its scope.

The federal judge's decision came after the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward petitioned the judge hours before the order was issued, arguing that there might not be enough time to intervene once Trump signed it.

According to a US official, the US was exclusively responsible for the Saturday operation against the Houthis. It was the first strike against the Yemen-based Houthis by the second Trump administration, and it came after a period of relative calm in the region.

The Biden administration conducted such broad-based and pre-planned missile strikes on the Houthis on several occasions in response to the Houthis' repeated attacks on commercial and military boats in the vicinity.

The USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group, which comprises the carrier, three Navy destroyers, and one cruiser, is in the Red Sea and took part in the mission. The USS Georgia cruise missile submarine has also been active in the area.