Donald Trump's administration is 'looking at' suspending habeus corpus - but why, and what is it?

US President Donald Trump’s administration has confirmed it is “looking into” the suspension of something known as habeas corpus, and if you’re regretting not studying Latin at school, worry not, we’ve got you covered.

Translating to English as “you have the body”, habeas corpus is also known as ‘The Great Writ’ and concerns the rights of government detainees to file a court petition to challenge their detention.

It can be found under Article I of the US Constitution, where it also states that such a rule can be suspended “in cases of rebellion or invasion”.

Abraham Lincoln suspended it during the Civil War, only for Congress to later pass a statute allowing it.

Now, as Trump and his team continue their immigration clampdown, his deputy chief of staff at the White House has confirmed it is investigating triggering its suspension.

Stephen Miller told reporters on 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 that is an option we are actively looking at.”

It should hopefully go without saying, but at this moment in time, America is not experiencing a rebellion or being invaded.

Just last month, the US Supreme Court sided with Trump on his use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport people from America, but said the immigrants are “entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal” in front of a judge.

In other words: habeas corpus.

And a week ago, the White House press secretary was asked if Trump would suspend habeas corpus, only for Karoline Leavitt to state she had “not heard such discussions take place” but that the president was “certainly open to all legal and constitutional remedies” to allow him to continue deportations.

Although the clause in question doesn’t state who or which government branch can suspend it, because it can be found under Article I of the Constitution, it’s mainly been considered to be Congress.

Miller’s remarks have since sparked alarm and confusion online, with MSNBC journalist Sam Stein questioning the contradictory messages from the Trump administration about the border and crime being under control, while the country is also under an invasion which warrants the suspension of habeas corpus:

Aaron Blake, senior political reporter at the Washington Post, pointed to the four times habeas corpus has been suspended in US history:

Author James Surowiecki emphasised that habeas corpus’ suspension would “suspend the right for everyone”:

And human rights lawyer Qasim Rashid said he “cannot emphasise enough how dire this is” for America:

Miller’s comments are just one of many remarks from Team Trump about constitutional matters which has alarmed the president’s critics in recent months, with the Republican previously stating he ‘doesn’t know’ if he needs to uphold the US constitution as President of the United States, and attacking the 14th amendment clause concerning birthright citizenship.

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