Stephen Miller says Trump ‘looking at’ suspending habeas corpus for illegals over judicial interference

Top Trump aide Stephen Miller confirmed Friday that the administration is “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus for illegal aliens.

Miller offered the confirmation while fielding questions outside the White House.

“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,” he said. “So I would say that’s an option we’re actively looking at. 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,” he added.

Listen:

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, 2025

Habeas corpus is a legal maneuver that allows someone who believes they’re being wrongfully detained to petition a court to review their case.

By suspending habeas corpus, the administration would be able to quickly detain and deport illegal aliens without having to deal with the hassle of going before an immigration judge.

However, Miller’s announcement prompted fear from critics who alleged that the suspension of habeas corpus would affect everybody, leading potentially to citizens being accidentally deported or worse.

“Anyone who thinks this is no big deal, doesn’t understand that this will suspend habeas corpus for everyone,” one critic tweeted. “All they have to do is CLAIM that you are undocumented, and you’ll disappear with neither a trace, nor legal recourse. They will absolutely use this to kidnap US citizens.”

But defenders of the policy proposal pushed back by arguing that all a detained citizen would have to do is prove their citizenship status to avoid being caught up in deportations.

Defenders of the proposal also noted that President Donald Trump is clearly just targeting illegals. This differentiates him from former President Abraham Lincoln, who suspended habeas corpus for citizens, including even federal judges and legislators, to put down the rebellion in the South.

Worth pointing out that Lincoln suspended habeas corpus for citizens (including Federal judges). The bar is much lower for foreigners.

— Just Loki (@LokiJulianus) May 9, 2025

“April 27, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln instructs General Winfield Scott to suspend habeas corpus as necessary to keep vital transport and supply lines clear in Maryland,” according to The History Channel. “This action kicks off a legal dispute with the Supreme Court.”

“One month later, on May 25, 1861, John Merryman, a state legislator from Maryland, is arrested for attempting to hinder Union troops from moving from Baltimore to Washington during the Civil War and is held at Fort McHenry by Union military officials. His attorney immediately sought a writ of habeas corpus so that a federal court could examine the charges. However, because President Lincoln had suspended the right, the general in command of Fort McHenry refused to turn Merryman over to the authorities,” the history lesson continues.

And then, when a federal judge ruled that Lincoln lacked the authority to suspend habeas corpus, he completely ignored the order.

The Lincoln Project is outraged about a president potentially limiting habeas corpus in response to a national emergency.

Who’s gonna tell them? pic.twitter.com/2JwTeIruFE

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 9, 2025

The Trump administration believes that going this route is necessary because federal judges keep interfering with its plan to deport illegal aliens from the United States.

The latest interference came in late April, when U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston ruled that Border Patrol agents may not detain illegal aliens without a warrant.

In a preliminary injunction, she said that agents are prohibited from “stopping people without reasonable suspicion that they are noncitizens and in the U.S. in violation of federal immigration law,” according to the ACLU.

They’re also prohibited from “arresting people without a warrant if agents don’t have probable cause to believe the person is likely to flee.”

Senior Staff Writer
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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