Alien Enemies Act

The Alien and Sedition Acts were a set of four laws enacted in 1798 that restricted immigration and speech in the United States. The Naturalization Act increased the requirements to seek citizenship, the Alien Friends Act allowed the president to imprison and deport non-citizens, the Alien Enemies Act gave the president additional powers to detain non-citizens during times of war, and the Sedition Act criminalized false and malicious statements about the federal government. The Alien Friends Act and Sedition Act expired after a set number of years, while the Naturalization Act was repealed in 1802. The Alien Enemies Act remains in effect. The Acts were controversial, with Federalists supporting them as strengthening national security and Democratic-Republicans denouncing them as suppressing voters and violating free speech. They were used to suppress publishers affiliated with the Democratic-Republicans and were later eliminated by the next Congress, except for the Alien Enemies Act. The U.S. Supreme Court has indicated that aspects of the laws would likely be found unconstitutional today.learn more on wikipedia