The Trump administration plans to suspend the brief of Habeas Corpus, the legal right to challenge his detention, Stephen Miller, a White House advisor, said on Friday.
“The constitution is clear, and it is of course the supreme law of the earth, that the privilege of the brief of Habeas Corpus could be suspended in time of invasion. It is therefore an option that we are actively examining. Much of it depends if the courts do the right thing or not,” Miller told a group of journalists from the White House.
The American constitution says: “The privilege of the brief of Habeas Corpus will not be suspended, unless, in the event of rebellion or invasion, public security may require it.” The brief of Habeas Corpus was only suspended four times in American history, notably by Abraham Lincoln during the civil war. He was also suspended during the efforts to fight the Ku Klux Klan in the 19th century in South Carolina, in the Philippines in 1905 and after Pearl Harbor.
The suspension of the Habeas Corpus would be an extremely aggressive decision that would considerably increase the efforts of the Trump administration to attack the rule of law in the American courts when he tries to expel people without giving them a chance to challenge the basis of their moves.
Miller, known for a long time for his far -right positions on immigration, sought to deploy a maximalist approach to carry out mass deportations. The US government has already produced little evidence to justify the deportations of immigrants and, in some cases, has sought to legally withdraw students in the United States for having expressed their point of view, in particular support for the Palestinians.
Many immigrants that the Trump administration has aggressively transferred to expulsion – including Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk – have filed Habeas petitions contesting the efforts to expel them.
The administration has already attempted to expel people without regular procedure by invoking the law on extraterrestrial enemies, a 18th century law which allows the president to do so in wartime.
The Trump administration has justified its actions by arguing that the United States is under “invasion” of Tren from Aragua, a Venezuelan gang. Several judges have rejected the idea that the United States is under invasion and have tried to stop the moves.
But, while the courts have tried to stop the administration’s efforts to illegally expel people, Trump attacked the judges for deciding against him and, in some cases, openly challenged the courts.
