Stephen Miller Says Trump Is ‘Actively Looking’ at Suspending Habeas Corpus
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller said the Trump administration is considering suspending habeas corpus, depending “on whether the courts do the right thing.”
President Donald Trump has argued that the U.S. is being “invaded” by undocumented immigrants and has acted accordingly. In March, the administration invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to justify the due process-free deportations of more than 230 immigrants to El Salvador, where they are being incarcerated without charge. On Friday, Miller suggested that Trump may suspend habeas corpus, which was most famously done during the Civil War.
Miller fielded questions outside the White House, including one from the far-right, conspiracy-peddling site Gateway Pundit.
“President Trump has talked about potentially suspending habeas corpus to take care of the illegal immigration problem,” he said. “When could we see that happen, do you think?”
Miller replied:
Well, 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, I would say that’s an option we’re actively looking at.
Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not. At the end of the day, Congress passed a body of law, known as the Immigration and Nationality Act, which stripped Article III courts, that’s the judicial branch, of jurisdiction over immigration cases. So, Congress actually passed, it’s called jurisdiction-stripping legislation. It passed a number of laws that say that the Article III courts aren’t even allowed to be involved in immigration cases.
Courts are ultimately the arbiters of what “the right thing” is, per U.S. laws. However, Miller is making clear the administration is prepared to arrogate to itself the right to determine whether court orders are valid or not. Indeed, the U.S. Supreme Court last month upheld a lower court ruling ordering the Trump administration to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador. Trump is currently defying the ruling.
Watch above via C-SPAN.
