In the 1940s, amid a climate of war and xenophobia, President Roosevelt invoked the Alien Enemies Act, requiring so-called “alien enemies” to register with the government, which led to the detention and forcible relocation of both American citizens and non-citizens of Japanese ancestry. Earlier this year, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act — this time without any predatory incursion or military invasion taking place — to detain approximately 280 Venezuelan and Salvadoran men at a Salvadoran prison notorious for torture. During our trip, survivors and descendants shared harrowing stories of armed agents showing up at their homes and taking away family members. Later, the government offered to reunite families at Crystal City, but only if they agreed to renounce their U.S. citizenship. What government officials called “family reunification” was really a threat to permanently separate families by coercing them to agree to relocation. The Trump administration is using the same coercive tactics today. Masked ICE agents are disappearing longstanding community members in cities, towns, and neighborhoods across our country. Many families have been forced to make heart-wrenching choices between family separation or leaving their entire lives in the U.S. behind. So how do we stop history from repeating itself? One lesson from Crystal City is the power of memory and accountability. Crystal City is now predominantly Latine and has forged its own history of activism, such as in the ‘60s when Mexican American teenagers staged school walkouts in protest of discrimination. These young activists went on to form the La Raza Unida political party. During my visit, the town’s solidarity with the Crystal City survivors felt clear and authentic, from the hospitality we received to the public memorial markers throughout the area. In the words of Crystal City Pilgrimage Committee Board President Kazumu Julio Cesar Naganuma, whose family was imprisoned, “By sharing our nation’s hidden histories and the powerful stories of survivors, we can begin to undo the historical amnesia that allows our government to harm children and families today.” In remembrance, Jennifer Ibañez Whitlock
Senior Policy Counsel
National Immigration Law Center
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