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Top Trump adviser Stephen Miller got the weekend off to a bang by telling his fellow Americans the Trump White House would like to suspend even more constitutional rights.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, the White House deputy chief of staff said the Trump administration has been “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus, a fundamental legal right that allows anyone arrested by the government to challenge their detention in court.
“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,” Miller said, using the administration’s xenophobic argument that immigration to the U.S. amounts to an invasion.
Habeas corpus, which means “you should have the body” in Latin, is supposed to guarantee an individual’s right to physically appear in front of a judge and challenge their detention.
However, the Trump administration has invoked the Alien Enemies Act, an obscure 18th-century power, to send foreign nationals to prison in El Salvador without due process.
The act is only supposed to be used in wartime, and just this past week, two federal judges blocked the Trump administration from using it to justify its rendition of immigrants to foreign prisons.
“Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not,” Miller said of whether the administration would truly seek to suspend habeus corpus.
You can watch the exchange below courtesy of C-SPAN.
Stephen Miller says the White House is looking into suspending habeas corpus, which protects people from unlawful detentions: "A lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not." pic.twitter.com/AZLhFy79oZ
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 9, 2025Just days ago, President Donald Trump suggested that he was unaware that U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike have a right to due process, as laid out in the Constitution.
The Trump administration’s threats are alarming people on and off social media. Online, people denounced Miller for being “full of shit” and his remarks as “full-blown fascism.”
“Suspension of habeas corpus is the end of a free United States,” one person wrote.
Habeas corpus, meaning "you shall have the body," is a legal principle and a writ that allows a court to review the legality of a person's detention or imprisonment. It's a fundamental safeguard against arbitrary or unlawful detention, ensuring individuals can challenge their… https://t.co/uMUZ4oqMzx
— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) May 9, 2025Since it apparently needs to be said: the authority to suspend habeas corpus lies with Congress, not the President, and is only legal during extreme circumstances of rebellion or invasion.
Stephen Miller is full of shit.
BREAKING: In a stunning moment, the same day that Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested for protesting at an ICE facility, Stephen Miller says Trump is "actively looking at" suspending habeas corpus, i.e. due process.
Full-blown fascism is here, folks.pic.twitter.com/tG8wFO7FQx
There is no invasion under its legal definition. They are trying to reinterpret the Constitution on a whim in an effort to give this administration authoritarian powers.
— Timothy Bellman (@Timothy_Bellman) May 9, 2025Suspending habeas corpus would suspend the right for everyone, not just for undocumented people. So what Stephen Miller is saying here is that Trump is thinking about asserting the right to throw Americans in prison while giving them no opportunity to use the courts to get out. https://t.co/82TvV1xN8h
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) May 9, 2025Habeas corpus is your Constitutional right to see a judge and have the government justify why it has detained you
Without it, the government can seize any person at any time without reason https://t.co/AsbyE3UDjH
Look, @StephenM, I get it. You're scared of change, of people who don't look like you, of a world that's more complex than your soundbites. But suspending habeas corpus isn't the answer. It's not even close. The Constitution says it can only be suspended in cases of "rebellion or…
— Mike Young 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱🟧 (@micyoung75) May 9, 2025Stephen Miller is now threatening to shred habeas corpus-the right to challenge your detention in court-because judges keep slapping down his fantasy that we’re being “invaded” by Venezuelan gangsters. Here’s the kicker: even as the administration brags about record-low border…
— Michael D. Baker (@mikebakerlaw) May 9, 2025Habeas Corpus, known as the "great writ," is the single tool that stands between a free society and a government that can lock people up as it pleases.
Suspension of Habeas Corpus is the end of a free United States.
Period. https://t.co/VL7ttM7Tfo
If the "Writ of Habeus Corpus" is suspended.......riot.
Dont take this laying down. Stop working. Stop paying taxes. Stop spending.
Steal if you have to.
If you lay down youll stay down.
They are demonstrating to you the law is invalid upon doing so, and you have no rights
Habeas corpus is protection from tyranny! It’s the legal rule that says if the government locks you up, they have to explain WHY to a judge & fast. Without it, our govt can throw you in jail, not charge you, not tell you the accusation, you get no trial. No lawyers. No end date.
— Ali Herring (closing to queries May 9) (@HerringAli) May 9, 2025Stephen Miller says they are “actively looking at” suspending the writ of habeas corpus, which is only allowed when the US has been invaded or during an insurrection, which would not allow people to challenge their incarceration in court if they are arrested and detained. pic.twitter.com/vK3ELIMoYj
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 9, 202520 Years Of Free Journalism
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If they’re telling us no one is coming to the border anymore because of them, how can they also claim we are being “invaded” at the border?
— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) May 9, 2025
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