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To the editor:
In the Breeze opinion article, "Honor and Defend," published last week, the Editorial Board seems to believe that our Due Process protections should apply to national security threats.
The recent deportation of 300 Venezuelan nationals from the United States to El Salvador were removed under the Alien Enemies Act. This Act allows the President to unilaterally detain, remove, or restrict non-citizens originating from a hostile foreign nation during wartime or a national security crisis. The President has deemed our border crisis a national security threat.
U.S. Courts have always given broad discretion to the Executive Branch in matters involving immigration. The United States Supreme Court has previously ruled that non-citizens do not have an absolute right to enter or remain in the U.S. in Harisiades v. Shaughnessy, 1952.
The Due Process Clause should not apply here because the Alien Enemies Act operates outside the normal constitutional framework of individual rights, prioritizing national security over procedural protections. If we do not protect our national security, we will not have any fundamental rights to protect.
To answer the question posed by the Editorial Board, I would respond that I absolutely would be willing to defend our fundamental rights of Due Process but not to the point where national security is endangered.
Arthur E. Amidano,
Committeeman Pct. 111
Cape Coral