Rarely used 1807 law Trump threatens to invoke explained as it could have catastrophic effects on citizens
Donald Trump has threatened to invoke a 1807 law which could inflict catastrophe on citizens.
Since coming back to the White House for a second term in January, President Trump has launched an aggressive commitment to crack down on drugs, crime and immigration.
To this end, the Trump administration has been digging up laws from hundreds of years ago, including the 18th century 'Alien Enemies Act' of 1798, which has controversially been used to fuel mass deportations of migrants.
The POTUS also signed an executive order on his first day back in office, declaring an emergency at the US southern border.
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Now, Trump is looking at invoking a rare piece of legislation from the 19th century which could be used to address that emergency - and to halt immigration-related protests.
What is the Insurrection Act of 1807?
The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the use of active-duty military personnel to carry out law enforcement duties across the US.
Essentially, it could see troops taking on duties from squashing civil unrest to carrying out court orders to arrest and detain immigrants.
It also extends to the National Guard - a wing of the US Armed Forces that traditionally attend domestic emergencies and disasters.
It can only be invoked by a US president if they determine that 'unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion' against the government make it 'impracticable to enforce' the law 'by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings', as per the BBC.
Why does Trump want to invoke the 19th century law?
Since declaring a state of emergency at the US border, Trump has hinted at bringing the law back into force and more recently sent thousands of National Guard troops and Marines to immigration-related protests in Los Angeles.
Days of unrest was sparked after immigration enforcement swarmed in and arrested large groups of undocumented migrants in areas with large Latino populations.
The president slammed the demos as violent, though the governor of California and the mayor of Los Angeles accuse Trump of overstepping by deploying troops to the state, with Gov Gavin Newsom going so far as to say it was driven by 'the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial president'.
Despite the backlash, Trump said he wouldn't hesitate to invoke the law full-time.
"If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it," Trump said on Tuesday (June 10). "We'll see."
When has the law been used in history?
The Insurrection Act has been invoked just a handful of times in US history.
American presidents have used it during times of mass civil unrest and to crackdown on racist violence, from Abraham Lincoln who invoked it when southern states rebelled against the US Civil War to President Ulysses S Grant who used it to against white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan.
Former President Dwight D Eisenhower also brought it back to allow the US Army to escort black pupils to high school in Arkansas after the governor refused to oblige to a federal desegregation order.
It was last used in 1992 by then-president George Bush who invoked it to quell LA riots that broke out in protest of the acquittal of four white police officers accused of brutally beating a black man, Rodney King.
Could Trump face legal challenges for the law?
US governments have traditionally tried to restrict the use of military force and have enacted such laws in times of mass unrest.
Trump has continued to extent his powers by declaring national emergencies, which liberates access to certain powers and resources which has helped him in both his tariff war and the crackdown on immigration.
However, that's not to say it's been without hiccup, as the Supreme Court has challenged some of Trump's orders and temporarily blocked his attempts to deport alleged gang members under the Alien Enemies Act.
If he invokes the Insurrection Act of 1807, it's unclear if he will face similar legal challenges.
Topics: Donald Trump, Immigration, Military, US News, Police, Politics, Los Angeles
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