§75 —
On invasion
Democrat
3.1 PERCENT
The courts. In April 2025 the Supreme Court held that people facing removal under the act must get notice "within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief" 1. In May: "notice roughly 24 hours before removal, devoid of information about how to exercise due process rights to contest that removal, surely does not pass muster" 2. A Fifth Circuit panel found "neither an invasion nor a predatory incursion"; the full court later dismissed the case as moot after the named plaintiffs were deported, leaving the question undecided 3.
The flights. On March 15, 2025, 238 Venezuelans were sent to the CECOT prison in El Salvador, 137 of them under the act. Of the 226 with ICE data, about 49 percent had no U.S. criminal history, and 8 — 3.1 percent — had violent convictions 4. In July 2025, 252 were returned to Venezuela in a prisoner exchange 5. The proclamation said invasion. The records said three percent.
Sources
- Trump v. J.G.G., 7 April 2025: notice "must be afforded within a reasonable time and in such a manner as will allow them to actually seek habeas relief" — Cornell Legal Information Institute ↑
- A.A.R.P. v. Trump, 16 May 2025: "notice roughly 24 hours before removal … surely does not pass muster" — Cornell Legal Information Institute ↑
- The panel found "neither an invasion nor a predatory incursion"; the en banc court dismissed the case as moot on 13 August 2026 — Reason / Volokh Conspiracy, 13 August 2026 ↑
- 238 Venezuelans sent to CECOT on 15 March 2025, 137 under the Alien Enemies Act; about 49 percent of 226 with ICE data had no U.S. criminal history; 8 (3.1 percent) had violent convictions — Human Rights Watch and Cristosal, 12 November 2025 ↑
- 252 Venezuelans returned to Venezuela in exchange for 10 Americans — CBS News, 18 July 2025 ↑
Republican
INVASION
The word is in the law he invoked. The Alien Enemies Act proclamation of March 2025: "I find and declare that TdA is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States," and "Evidence irrefutably demonstrates that TdA has invaded the United States and continues to invade" 1.
And on the border itself, the numbers are on this side. In December 2025 the Border Patrol recorded 6,478 southwest-border apprehensions and zero releases, against 7,041 released in December 2024 2. In July of this year it recorded 9,295 apprehensions, "94% lower than the monthly average of the Biden administration," and a fifteenth straight month of zero releases 3. Whatever you call what was happening before, it is not happening now at anything like the old scale. That is the administration's strongest receipt, and it is a real one.
Sources
- "Threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States"; "TdA has invaded the United States and continues to invade" — Proclamation 10903, 14 March 2025 — Federal Register via govinfo ↑
- December 2025: 6,478 southwest-border apprehensions; zero releases, against 7,041 in December 2024 — U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 16 January 2026 ↑
- July 2026: 9,295 apprehensions, "94% lower than the monthly average of the Biden administration"; 15 straight months of zero releases — Department of Homeland Security, 13 August 2026 ↑
“The small thing that bothers me is the word, so I read the proclamation. March of last year: "an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States." Then the Border Patrol's own figures: July of this year, nine thousand two hundred ninety-five apprehensions, "94% lower." Then the Supreme Court, twice: notice first, and a day's notice with no instructions "surely does not pass muster." Then the people on the flights: two hundred thirty-eight, and eight of them with violent convictions. Excuse me — I'll let you get back to it. If the crossings are down ninety-four percent, what's the invasion now?”— Lou
“Invasion. It's in the proclamation — "has invaded the United States and continues to invade." Meanwhile his own Border Patrol says crossings are down ninety-four percent and releases are at zero. So the invasion's over, by his numbers, and the wartime law is still running. Then they flew two hundred thirty-eight Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador, and when somebody checked the records, about half had no criminal history here and three percent had violent convictions. That's not repelling an invasion. That's a raid with a press office.”
“The border is secure because the invasion was repelled, and the invasion must be ongoing because the law remains invoked, and both of those facts together are called deterrence, which works best when no one can tell which one is true.”