Trump ‘Looking At’ Suspending Habeas Corpus, Stephen Miller Says 

The Trump administration is looking into suspending people’s right to challenge their incarceration in court, to carry out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts, White House aide Stephen Miller said Friday.

“The Constitution is clear, and that of course is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion, so it’s an option we’re actively looking at,” Miller said. “A lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”

Miller said the White House suspending habeas corpus ultimately “depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”

Though Miller described it as a “privilege,” the writ of habeas corpus is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution and can only be suspended “when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”

Habeas corpus, Latin for “that you have the body,” allows those in custody to challenge the legality of their detention. It has been suspended only four times in U.S. history: During the Civil War, Reconstruction, the 1905 Insurrection in the Philippines and after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Supreme Court ruled last month that people targeted for removal under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), the 18th-century wartime law Trump invoked earlier this year, must be given the opportunity to challenge their removal through habeas corpus petitions. Since then, plaintiffs have successfully halted AEA removals in part of Texas, Colorado and New York. 

In response, the Trump administration has sought to limit the courts’ ability to review executive actions, arguing in legal filings that federal judges do not have the authority to review Trump’s AEA proclamation.