If White House Deputy Chief of Staff #Stephen #Miller is to be believed,
Team Trump is poised to drive another stake through the heart of the Constitution.
On May 9, Miller told reporters that the administration is considering whether to suspend the right to #habeas #corpus – known as “The Great Writ” – in immigration cases.
Suspending habeas corpus,
which allows individuals to challenge the legality of their detention in court,
would be unconstitutional.
The #Suspension #Clause, located in Article I, Section 9, Clause 2 of the Constitution, says:
“The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”
In light of the several recent losses the administration has suffered in immigration cases, Miller said it is now pondering the suspension of habeas corpus.
He declared:
"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 … 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 Nationality Act which stripped Article III courts, that’s the judicial branch, of jurisdiction over immigration cases. So Congress actually passed what’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."
As Georgetown law professor Steve Vladeck points out,
“To casually suggest that habeas might be suspended because courts have ruled against the executive branch in a handful of immigration cases
is to turn the Suspension Clause entirely on its head.”
