White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller reportedly told White House officials that the Trump administration could expedite deportations through the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act if the U.S. and Venezuela were at war, according to a new report.
The revelation is part of a broader report published by The New York Times about Miller and Secretary of State Marco Rubio's leading role in the administration's escalating military campaign against regional cartels and, more specifically, the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela.
The campaign has so far included dozens of strikes against alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, killing 105 people. Trump has repeatedly anticipated that he could order land strikes to target infrastructure.
Another passage of the piece noted that Trump signed in late July an order calling for maritime strikes, the first known written directive for such strikes. It was referred to as "Phase One," with SEAL Team Six taking a leading role. A "Phase Two" has been vaguely discussed, the outlet added, where Army Delta Force units could carry out land operations.
In the meantime, the administration has been seizing sanctioned oil tankers off Venezuela, seeking to exert pressure on the regime. So far it has seized two and is pursuing a third one, the Bella 1, that has escaped into the Atlantic.
To do so, it's beefing up its military presence in the region. The Wall Street Journal noted that among the units being summoned is a Maritime Special Response Team, an elite force trained to board hostile ships.
It isn't publicly known why the ship has taken the stance, with the WSJ noting that most commercial vessels have little incentive to disobey the orders of U.S. armed forces.
"They are probably getting orders from somewhere," retired Rear Adm. William Baumgartner told the outlet. "These are owned by very bad people trying to make money in a particular manner."
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