The Trump administration is considering suspending habeas corpus, the constitutional right for people to challenge being imprisoned by the government.
Habaes corpus is guaranteed in Article 1 of the US Constitution and says that anyone incarcerated can file a petition in federal courts saying their being held unconstitutionally or their constitutional rights are being violated, and the government has to respond. It's essentially the way that people who have been detained or held without proper procedure can claim that they should be released.
Article 1 of the Constitution states, “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.” And some in the Trump administration are arguing that the southern border migration constitutes "invasion."
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told White House reporters on Friday that suspending it without approval of Congress is "an option we're actively looking at."
For more, KCBS spoke with Lori Levinson, law professor at Loyola Law School, who said the fact that the Trump administration wants to see it suspended -- something that no president has done without Congress since Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War -- "is an indication that the White House is really frustrated that the federal courts won't do what they want," Levinson added.
Andrew Johnson also suspended habeas corpus after the Civil War with Congressional approval, as did Theodore Roosevelt during a 1905 revolt in the Philippines and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who suspended it in Hawaii after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Trump has reportedly been in talks himself about the possibility of suspending habeas corpus "unilaterally."
“The one power you cannot give the executive is the power to arbitrarily imprison people who oppose the regime,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said at a Democratic rally in Sarasota, Florida, per NBC News. “Today it may be an El Salvadorian immigrant or a foreign student, but tomorrow it is you or me. The slope to despotism can be slippery and quick.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota dismissed the threat during "Meet the Press" on Sunday, saying Trump has to follow the Constitution, “And in that Constitution there is the right of habeas corpus.”
She added her belief that Trump and his administration are throwing out these claims as a distraction from the president's tariffs, shrinking faith in the public's belief in his ability to lead the country economically and low popularity ratings. “I’m telling you, right now, he’s doing it because they don’t want to focus on what’s really in front of them, and that they have created havoc in our economy,” Klobuchar said.