Trump promised mass deportations. Here’s one way they could quietly happen.

Central American migrants who were apprehended crossing the Rio Grande in Brownsville were flown to El Paso for processing, then deported to Mexico across the Paso del Norte International Bridge on March 16, 2021. (Credit: Paul Ratje for The Texas Tribune)

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During his presidential campaign, President Donald Trump promised to launch “the largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America,” using the U.S. military and a 1798 law known as the Alien Enemies Act — a statute that gives the president the power to detain immigrants during times of war.